OT-LUNA Blog-US Air Force and Luna Team Up on Next-Gen Coatings Testing

http://lunainc.com/air-force-luna-team-next-gen-coatings-testing/

In a recently published AFRL article titled “New Corrosion Evaluation System Makes Sense for Air Force”, Dr. Chad Hunter of Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) discusses how CorRES^TM from Luna Innovations enables the Air Force to rapidly introduce new corrosion protection and control technologies with minimal risk. According to Dr. Hunter, “There’s a lot of variability in corrosion tests, and CorRES allows us to monitor this variability and provides quantitative data that helps us better understand a coating’s performance in the lab so we can project how it will perform in the operational environment.”

CorRES is an evaluation system providing continuous measurement of coatings performance and test environment over time. Quantitative, time dependent measurements allow for more accurate and thorough determination of coating performance.  CorRES measurements offer a significant advantage to those who are either interested in shortening new coatings/raw materials development time, or are responsible for coating qualification and want to reduce performance risk associated with new coating introductions.  

The technology was developed in partnership between Luna, AFRL, and the Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office. Dr. Hunter and his team have been instrumental in supporting Luna’s development of a test system which meets operational and durability requirements for use in accelerated test chamber and outdoor test environments. CorRES is now available for purchase and is used by government and industry customers across the world. Contact sensinst@lunainc.com for more information.
                                                         

Quantified, Real-Time Coatings Performance

CorRES multi-sensor panels (MSP) with interdigitated electrode (IDE) sensors are used to quantify coating performance continuously throughout a test.  The MSP are designed to be coated and scribed using conventional panel preparation techniques. Measurements are made per ANSI/NACE Standard TM0416-2016 “Test Method for Monitoring Atmospheric Corrosion Rate by Electrochemical Measurements”.

Versatile

CorRES test systems are designed to withstand the harshest conditions to allow for long term use in corrosion test chambers and outdoor environments.  When used in laboratory test chambers the CorRES operates off of line power, and for prolonged unattended outdoor tests, the system can be supplied with battery pack.  This low-power device can collect coating performance data for extended periods of time (> 1year) without a battery replacement.

Data can be downloaded from the Docking Platform by user command. Luna’s intuitive graphical user interface provides data visualization and automated data processing.  The data is retrieved in common file format for easy exporting to analysis and processing software.

Expand Your Understanding

• High throughput measurement for performance testing and coating formulation development
• Continuous quantitative measures of corrosion rate and cumulative degradation for protective coating and inhibitor selection and coating qualification
• Measurements of coating performance and alloy corrosion for specific atmospheric exposures or service environments
• Automated environmental data collection and record keeping for comparing conditions and results among test chambers, between labs, and relative to previous tests
• Correlate laboratory testing, outdoor exposures, and service environment evaluations for specific applications
• Accelerated coatings development through continuous performance monitoring, no need to remove panels from the chamber
• Mechanistic studies of degradation using multimodal measurements of barrier properties, free corrosion, and galvanic corrosion combined with environmental conditions

New corrosion evaluation system to enable smart aircraft maintenance

In conjunction with Luna Inc. and engineers at the Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office, researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory have developed a new corrosion and coating evaluation system, CorRES, that can measure the ability of coatings to protect aircraft structures by using sensor panels that measure localized changes during corrosion testing. Unlike conventional coating tests that rely on an expert’s visual evaluation of a test panel at the conclusion of a test cycle, the CorRES takes measurements throughout a coating’s test and transmits data in real-time to a base station for evaluation. (Courtesy photo)

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/new-corrosion-evaluation-system-enable-smart-aircraft-maintenance/Udt3TeIRbLJu0YuWiSpouL/

By Marisa Alia-Novobilski, Air Force Research Laboratory

As next-generation material development drives advances in Air Force technology, understanding the ability of new materials to perform in the operational environment is paramount to transition success. This is particularly important to scientists working to develop new, high performance Air Force coating technologies that meet strict environmental compliance needs in diverse operational conditions.

Through a small business innovation research project with Luna Innovations Inc., scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office supported the development of an improved system for coating materials performance evaluations that will accelerate the screening, qualification and implementation of new aircraft coatings.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/afrl-researchers-studying-link-between-sweat-hydration-with-patch/g1SDLR9MDUB1aJ5bFgkpIO/

“By better understanding the corrosion performance of materials we put on an aircraft, we can help control corrosion costs and enable smart maintenance,” said Dr. Chad Hunter, the team lead for corrosion and erosion in the Systems Support Division at the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate. “Corrosion maintenance costs are more than $5 billion a year for the Air Force, so if we can better understand a material from the start, we can enable smart maintenance and ultimately reduce costs throughout the lifecycle.”

The new corrosion and coating evaluation system, CorRES, measures the ability of coatings to protect aircraft structures by using sensor panels that perform electrochemical measurements during corrosion testing. Unlike conventional coating tests that rely on an expert’s visual evaluation of a test panel at the conclusion of a test cycle, CorRES records corrosion rate data throughout a test and transmits the data to a base station for evaluation. This enables researchers to know not only if a coating fails, but exactly when this occurs during a test.

“Legacy systems do not produce time-based, quantitative measurements inside of the test chamber, but rather, these are taken after a panel is removed. There’s a lot of variability in corrosion tests, and CorRES allows us to monitor this variability and provides quantitative data that help us better understand a coating’s performance in the lab so we can project how it will perform in the operational environment,” said Hunter.

Aircraft coatings are the first line of defense when it comes to mitigating structural corrosion of an air platform. As new coatings are developed, particularly those that contain non-chrome primers, there is a need for researchers to qualify the coatings for use on military aircraft prior to implementation on flying systems. The process, which includes laboratory tests, outdoor environmental exposure and aircraft trials, can be extensive and expensive. However, material qualification is a necessary risk-reduction activity for Air Force systems.

OT-SBIR-STTR-Success: Luna Innovations Inc.

https://www.sbir.gov/node/1246401

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.

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 Office. “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 first 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.