Advanced Thin Films for Aerospace Applications

Conference: American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting

Date of the conference: October 28^th - November 2^nd, 2012

Title:  High Performance Thin Film Based Coatings in Aircraft Applications

Author: Alpana N. Ranade, PhD, Marvi A. Matos, PhD

Organization: The Boeing Company

Abstract

The use polymer-based materials and coatings in aircraft components is two-fold, first, the weight reductions are highly desirable to decrease fuel consumption and second, polymer-based materials are usually less expensive and convenient to manufacture. However when used in exterior aerospace applications, these polymeric surfaces can be susceptible to erosion which results in poor appearance and the loss of optical clarity for transparent materials. For example, when staple materials such as polycarbonate or stretched acrylic are used in windows, windshields and canopies, one of the drawbacks is the tendency to scratch. Polymeric windows have been historically coated with polysiloxane or polyurethane based coatings to overcome this limitation by improving the surface resistance to scratches. Still, improvements to the processes involved can decrease the required long drying times and can offer long term solutions in which the resistance to erosion is maintained overtime. The Advanced Thin Films team at the Boeing Company has made tremendous progress in the use of Atmospheric Plasma for the deposition of durable films for a variety of applications. This technology offers a great advantage over other plasma deposition techniques due to the potential high quality of the films produced, the portability of the equipment and low initial capital investment required. This technology can be exploited to generate materials with high performance, which are also environmentally friendly and produced with waste free processes. The Advanced Thin Films team currently focuses in the development and study of thin films to improve the resistance to material erosion on polymeric and composite substrates with applications in the aerospace industry.