Dimensional Restoration of Aircraft Components Damaged by Corrosion

Aircraft and ground support equipment typically require restoration of structure and components damaged by corrosion, wear, and other surface defects. Current repair techniques inspect, clean, and then apply Corrosion Preventative Compounds, but do not provide dimensional restoration. Additionally, these traditional repair techniques may utilize and/or produce hazardous materials and waste. Consequently, ES3 has been successfully developing cold spray repair coatings and application techniques under SBIR Topic AF131-190, Phase I, II and II.5 efforts with the US Air Force (USAF) and US Navy with multiple low to high pressure cold spray systems, robotic and handheld, that provide dimensional restoration using environmentally-friendly, corrosion and/or wear resistant coating applications. Leveraging the success of these efforts, this joint US Air Force & Navy Phase II effort will focus on the development and testing of cold spray coatings on ZE41A magnesium for dimensional restoration and corrosion prevention. This will include optimizing cold spray coating parameters for identified aluminum powder(s) and validation testing with multiple cold spray systems, both handheld and robotic in order to develop required technical data for US Air Force and Navy general authorization for aircraft sustainment.