LUNA INNOVATIONS INCORPORATED — Department of Defense STTR Phase I: AF20C-TCSO1

Description

Corrosion of Air Force aircraft and missiles is estimated to cost $5.7 billion per year and result in 2.1 million non-available hours.  The first line of defense and single most important factor in controlling corrosion of aircraft is the protective coating system.  Chromate containing primers used for aerospace are the largest single source of hexavalent chromium in the US DoD, but elimination of these protective inhibitors presents corrosion risks to military aircraft.  Aerospace electrocoat and powder coatings have virtually no heavy metals or volatile organic compounds and can be used to shorten coating process time. Introduction of new coating technologies often takes 10 – 20 years, in part, because of the lack of confidence in performance testing.  The proposed project will focus on the adaptation of existing coating performance sensing devices and test instrumentation to obtain more rapid and accurate coating performance metrics in laboratory tests, outdoor exposures and on-asset evaluations.  These improved test and measurement capabilities will shorten the time to market for newer and safer coatings and reduce the corrosion risk associated with introduction of these coatings for aerospace applications.