TOPIC NUMBER:
AF112-218
TOPIC TITLE:
Instrumented Test
Coupons and
Monitoring System
for Improved Material
Performance
Evaluations
CONTRACT
NUMBER:
FA8501-13-C-0026
SBIR
COMPANY
NAME:
Luna Innovations,
Inc.
Roanoke, VA
TECHNICAL
PROJECT
OFFICE:
Air Force Life Cycle
Management Center
Product Support
Engineering
Robins AFB, GA
PUBLISHED:
April 2017
NEW TECHNOLOGY EXPECTED
TO PLAY PIVOTAL ROLE IN REDUCING AIRCRAFT CORROSION COSTS
The Air Force is taking aim at its multi-billion dollar aircraft corrosion challenges through a
partnership with a Virginia-based small business.
Luna Innovations Inc., with support from the Small Business Innovation Research/Small
Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Program, developed technology that improves
upon the laboratory evaluation of aerospace coatings and provides service-life estimates
for coatings in actual environments. Having a better way to measure the effectiveness
of coatings that protect aircraft structures from corrosion and environmentally-produced
cracks will allow the Air Force to accelerate the adoption of new coatings while reducing the
risk associated with their integration.
A Luna Innovations employee installs
a corrosion and coating evaluation
system into an accelerated test
chamber. The system was developed
with support from the Air Force
SBIR/STTR Program and the Air
Force Commercialization Readiness
Program. (Courtesy photo)
78ABW-2017-0021
A BETTER WAY TO MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COATINGS
continued >
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center recently
selected Luna Innovations’ corrosion and coating
evaluation system – known as CorRES – as part of
its efforts to measure the severity of aircraft service
environments through base deployments. The system is
expected to help the Air Force reduce its nearly $6 billion
annual cost of addressing aircraft corrosion.
“The CorRES system is well aligned with Air Force Life
Cycle Management Center goals for improved corrosion
management and sustainment practices,” said David
Ellicks, a senior materials engineer at the Air Force
Corrosion Prevention and Control Ofce. “CorRES is
also being considered for use as part of the Air Force’s
new accelerated corrosion test system at the Air Force
Research Laboratory.
CURRENT TESTS OFTEN LACK CRITICAL
DATA
Since corrosion-inhibiting primers are the rst line of
defense for maintaining aircraft structural integrity, ensuring
new products match or exceed the performance of legacy
products is paramount.
The problem is that conventional coating test methods are
subjective measures of performance. Expert examination
of coated panels are often presented in a pass/fail format.
These tests focus on aesthetic performance and do
not provide data of localized corrosion processes that
represent the greatest risk to aircraft structures. As a
result, they lack critical coating system characteristics
needed for developers or users to select the best coating
for a given application.
The uncertainty associated with conventional coating
tests presents a risk for the introduction of new, safer and
environmentally sound coatings for aerospace applications.
BEHIND THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
Luna Innovations’ CorRES measures the ability of coatings
to protect aircraft structures. It can be used for laboratory
or outdoor coating testing and includes sensor panels that
can be painted and tested like traditional materials. The
sensor panels measure the ability of a coating to protect a
substrate from the environment, or in the case of coating
defects, the ability to inhibit corrosion.
Each system produced by the company includes
continuous environmental measurements of temperature
and humidity. A module for evaluating the ability of
coatings to protect alloys from stress corrosion cracking
and corrosion fatigue is also part of the system. Data
collection and storage is fully automated so that
environmental measurements, along with corrosion rate
and crack velocity, are continuously measured throughout
a test.
This Air Force SBIR/STTR Program – with additional
support from the Air Force Commercialization Readiness
Program – allowed Luna Innovations to advance the
technology from a basic concept to a fully commercialized
product.
It has since been used by the Air Force, the Navy, aircraft
manufacturers and aerospace coating manufacturers.
Additionally, the sensors that form the basis of the coating
measurement system are aligned with the U.S. national
standard for monitoring atmospheric corrosion and coating
performance.