Low-Density, Low-Volume Explosion Suppression Material for Aircraft Fuel Tanks

Response Technologies (RT) intends to build upon its Phase I SBIR success, discussed in section 1.3 Related Work, by developing and demonstrating prototype fuel tank explosion suppression (FTES) materials capable of meeting MIL-PRF-87260B suppression capabilities, tear resistance, fuel and hydrolytic stability, and flammability requirements. When compared to the existing explosion suppression foams (ESF), RT’s replacement materials are expected to reduce the weight of the foam and retained fuel by over 20 percent while also reducing the amount of displaced fuel (e.g., lost fuel capacity) by over 50 percent. RT’s solution is also anticipated to reduce the procurement cost by over 20 percent while improving the ease of installation and removal from representative air vehicle fuel tanks.During this proposed effort, RT will manufacture four to eight prototypes and then test the materials. This process will be repeated for a total of five rounds of prototyping and developmental testing. Learnings from the previous rounds will be incorporated into the future round materials and/or process conditions. As the rounds progress, the level of testing increases as well until RT is ultimately testing the majority of the qualifying test criteria.