To maintain military readiness and reduce maintenance costs, the DoD must protect weapons systems from environmental degradation, protection traditionally achieved through the use of various types of surface engineering technologies. In addition, structural materials on weapons systems generally possess unique properties in order to function in demanding operational environments. Providing protection from environmental degradation or manufacturing and maintaining structural materials with unique properties has often required the use of toxic or hazardous chemical substances. SERDP and ESTCP are developing and demonstrating the science, tools, and techniques needed to meet critical defense performance criteria while also reducing the impact on the environment and protecting the health of DoD workers and military personnel.

Weapons systems are generally brought in for depot level maintenance on a five- to 10-year schedule. A significant portion of the maintenance process, therefore, involves coating removal in order to identify underlying damage. Coating removal can produce large quantities of hazardous waste.

Subtopics:
Passivation, Primers, & Topcoats

Coating systems on DoD weapons systems are designed to perform under high stress conditions and to mitigate against a variety of failure modes. They are also intended to last for long cycle times between coating removal and reapplication. Learn More...

Structural Repair

Repair of military weapons systems must meet strict performance requirements and is intended to last for a complete maintenance cycle of seven to ten years. Learn More...

Analysis of Failure Modes

The mechanism related to a coating system failure is of great interest in that understanding the mode of failure can help in predicting coating lifetime depending on environmental exposure. Learn More...

Composites

Composite materials are lightweight and can offer a number of performance advantages when compared to metals. Learn More...