SBIR/STTR Award attributes
USAF armaments (e.g. MAU-12 bomb rack) suffer significant wear and corrosion damage, degrading reliability of such parts. Legacy coating systems (Cd, Cr, anodizing) for these armaments generally offer poor reliability and use environmentally-hazardous processes. New coatings are needed to improve reliability, reduce sustainment cost, and enable application on 4th, 5th and 6th generation platforms with low observability. IBC Materials & Technologies, LLC (IBC) proposes a unique solution that employs Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) and Diamond-Like-Carbon (DLC) coating technologies to provide superior wear-resistance, corrosion-resistance, and low observable (LO) properties for USAF components. In Phase I, IBC will perform the initial steps (requirements identification, preliminary trials, and test planning for Phase II) to adapt the proven performance of PEO and DLC coatings to armament platforms such as the MAU-12, and to prove the compatibility of these advanced coatings with LO systems. With over $15M of “beyond Phase II” funding for advanced coating development and two production contracts from the USAF, IBC will leverage its extensive commercialization experience in the proposed Phase I effort. For commercialization, IBC will qualify PEO and DLC coatings replacing legacy coatings to allow for drop-in replacement across the USAF. PEO and DLC coatings are currently at TRL-9/MRL-10 and in production on LAU-128 missile launchers, making the coatings ready for rapid maturation on other parts (e.g. MAU-12). IBC will apply these coatings at its Lebanon, IN, facility using existing MRL-10 processes. PEO and DLC coatings can be expanded to other air-to-air, air-to-ground and bomb ejection systems for legacy and future weapon systems.
