Grit blast/silane surface treatment for structural bonding of aluminum
- USAF Wright Laboratory Materials Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH (United States)
The use of silane coupling agents as prebond surface treatments for aluminum aircraft structure is not new. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has extensively used a silane surface preparation in applications of bonded composite repairs to aircraft structure. Recently, the USAF has begun to employ bonded composite repair technology as a means to extend the service lives of its aging aircraft. A grit blast/silane surface treatment optimized by the USAF Wright Laboratory Materials Directorate (ML) has been used in many of the applications, most notably on the C-141 aircraft. The ML process is desirable for many USAF applications since it does not contain acids which could harm aircraft structure, and it is similar to the Australian technique which has claimed years of success. The ML grit blast/silane surface treatment was inspired by the Australian process which was developed by the Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory (AMRL). The Australians generated considerable interest in their process, however, several key organizations were unable to duplicate the performance cited by AMRL. Some questioned the viability of the Australian silane process. To resolve this question for Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) personnel, as well as continue ML`s ongoing silane work, a program was run to understand the AMRL surface prep. This led to the development of the ML grit blast/silane process and its on-aircraft applications.
- OSTI ID:
- 441479
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960214-; TRN: 96:006556-0012
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 19. annual meeting of the Adhesion Society, Inc, Myrtle Beach, SC (United States), 18-21 Feb 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 19th annual meeting of the Adhesion Society; Ward, T.C. [ed.]; PB: 567 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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