TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Materials/Processes

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: VIRGINIA Class Submarine Program, NAVSEA PMS450, ACAT I

OBJECTIVE: Develop a novel nondestructive method capable of (1) volumetrically inspecting structural steel welds and adjacent base material from a side of the material which is coated with a thick polymeric coating, and/or (2) detecting corrosion between the polymeric coating and the steel substrate, and/or (3) lack of adhesion of the polymeric coating to the steel substrate. The sensitivity of the novel method cannot be less than that of the current method.

DESCRIPTION: Develop novel nondestructive methods to:

(1) Detect, locate, and size defects in steel butt or fillet welds which are coated with a thick polymeric coating. The coating thickness is up to approximately 2" and shall not be removed. The coating may have small scale inhomogeneity of several percent of volume. The method must be able to detect discontinuities in the weld or surrounding base metal that are a minimum of 1/16" long. The method must be able to ascertain the position the discontinuity relative to the metal/coating interface.

and/or

(2) Detect, locate and size corrosion 0.015" thick which is present between the polymeric coating and the underlying steel hull.

and/or

(3) Detect, locate and size areas down to 2 square inches associated with debonded coating.

The method(s) must be able to be implemented from a single side � that of the coating. The instrumentation to implement the nondestructive method must be man portable.

PHASE I: Identify theory and feasible approach. Demonstrate feasibility by calculations or critical laboratory experiment. Government test specimens of characteristic materials will be made available by the Navy for use in the contractor's facility.

PHASE II: Develop breadboard prototype based on the preliminary design and outcome of Phase I and demonstrate over the required range of parameters and actual materials in the laboratory. These tests will be initially performed by the contractor at the government facility Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, W. Bethesda, Maryland. Test plates will be provided by the Navy. If successful in the laboratory, the system will be demonstrated in a shipyard environment. The Virginia Class Program, PMS 450D (via email dated 15 Sep 2008 10:42) is committed to sponsor the necessary Navy support at NSWC Carderock Division and will provide access to a suitable ship platform in a shipyard where demonstrations of systems resulting from this SBIR topic can be conducted. Navy participation will be at no cost to the SBIR contract.

PHASE III: Develop and produce man portable equipment which satisfies the descriptions above. PMS450 will fund final development of a system meeting this requirement. Public and private shipyards doing submarine work require this capability to meet budget requirements. They will procure successful systems from their capital budgets.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Private/commercial sector may benefit from this technology in the inspection of insulated piping.

REFERENCES: Naval Sea Systems Command documents:

1. Unrestricted Operation Maintenance Requirement Card (URO/MRC) 001 Mod 36/40/60/80 "Perform NDT Surveillance Inspection of Selected Hull Welds, December 2007/Change 138.

2. Unrestricted Operation Maintenance Requirement Card (URO/MRC) 003 Mod 80 "Conduct Hull Survey," December 2007/Change 138.

3. Unrestricted Operation Maintenance Requirement Card (URO/MRC) 004 Mod 01/40/60, "Perform Statistical Sampling of Hull Welds," December 2007/Change 138.

4. Unrestricted Operation Maintenance Requirement Card (URO/MRC)005 Mod 36/40/60/70 "Perform Ultrasonic Monitoring Inspection of Hull Welds with Known Discontinuities," December 2007/Change 138.

KEYWORDS: Keywords: Nondestructive Evaluation; Nondestructive Testing; Nondestructive Inspection; Polyurethane coated welds; Structural Weld Inspection; Surveillance Inspection; Corrosion inspection

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between November 12 and December 7, 2008, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting December 8, 2008, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the DoD's SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (09.1 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 09.1 topic under which they are proposing.

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