N121-018 TITLE: Self-Healing Corrosion-Protection Coating

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Ground/Sea Vehicles, Materials/Processes

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: JSF-AV

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative, polymer-based corrosion-protection coating that is capable of self-healing scratches and cuts in the coating when it is used in the naval aviation environment.

DESCRIPTION: The corrosion of aircraft is a big problem for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The costs to inspect and repair damage caused by corrosion and the operational inefficiency of aircraft downtime and required maintainer inspection time are enormous. Protective coatings have been shown to control corrosion. However, the coatings themselves are susceptible to scratches, cuts, and other damage that, if extensive, can negate their protection abilities. Consequently, ground crews spend considerable time inspecting the protective coatings of naval aircraft, identifying damaged areas in the coating, assessing the extent of damage to the coating, and repairing the coating. The Navy would save money and gain operational efficiency if the coating could heal itself with no involvement of aircraft maintainer required.

The goal of this SBIR is to develop an innovative self-healing coating system. The coating must retain its self-healing and corrosion-protection capabilities after long, continuous exposures to the thermal, climatic, and chemical environments commonly encountered in naval aviation operations. Typical thermal conditions range from �65 �F for flight at altitude to 400 �F for proximity to engines or exhausts. Climatic conditions include arctic/antarctic cold, desert heat and intense sunlight, hot and humid climates, rain/snow/hail precipitation, and blowing dust and sand. Chemical environments include atmospheric salt fog from sea-borne operations; aviation fuels, lubricants, and oils; and aviation and industrial de-icers, cleaners, wash fluids, and solvents.

The developed coating should be able to retain its self-healing and corrosion-protection abilities after exposure to and in the face of various operational conditions; be cost effective relative to frequent aircraft maintainer inspection and repair; and have minimal weight penalties relative to existing, non self�healing coatings. The coating should be functional when applied to a broad range of typical naval aviation metallic substrates and should demonstrate corrosion protection at least equivalent to the Navy's top-performing primers, both chromate and nonchromate. The coating should also be capable of being manufactured in sufficient quantities to support naval aviation requirements. Manufacturing processes for producing the coating formulation should either be standard chemical industry processes or should be developed in this project to at least a pilot-plant level of operation. The coating materials and manufacturing processes developed in this effort must avoid, to the greatest extent possible, the use of environmentally restricted substances.

While the references associated with this topic refer in large part to formulating micro-encapsulated self-healing agents into the coating matrix, the topic is not limited to solutions using only this technology.

PHASE I: Develop an innovative approach for polymer-based self-healing coatings for naval aviation corrosion protection. Demonstrate feasibility of the approach by formulating and evaluating candidate coatings with a chemical bench-scale process or higher, giving consideration to specific thermal, climatic, and chemical exposure conditions. Consider a broad range of typical substrates.

PHASE II: Fully develop the coating concept into an optimized self-healing coating system and obtain sufficient data for certification on navy platforms, giving consideration to typical naval aviation conditions. Scale up the coating formulation process to at least pilot-scale operations.

PHASE III: Produce sufficient quantities of the coating system for aircraft demonstration and evaluation. Transition the coating system to military and commercial applications.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Corrosion is a pervasive problem in infrastructure (e.g., bridges, buildings, and similar structures), automotive, commercial aviation, and commercial marine industries. A polymer-based self-healing corrosion-protection coating would be of great benefit in any and all of these applications and would have widespread use in commercial settings.

REFERENCES:
1. Michael W. Keller (2010). Self-healing epoxy composites. In J-P. Pascault & R. J. J. Williams (Eds.), Epoxy polymers: New materials and innovations (pp. 325-344). Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH.

2. Cho, S. H., Andersson, H. M., White, S. R., Sottos, N. R., & Braun, P. V. (2006). Polydimethylsiloxane-based self-healing materials. Advanced Materials, 18, 997-1000.

3. Bergman, S. D., & Wudl, F. (2008). Mendable polymers. Journal of Material Chemistry, 18, 41-62.

KEYWORDS: Materials; Coatings; corrosion; mendable polymers; chemical processing

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between November 9 and December 11, 2011, 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 12, 2011, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

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