U.S. Department of Defense Achievement Award
A&A Is Recipient Of Prestigious U.S. Department Of Defense Achievement Award In Recognition Of Outstanding Contributions To The Success Of The Virginia Class Submarine (VCS) Retractable Bow Plane System
The Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award recognizes and honors those individuals from government and the private sector most responsible for outstanding technical accomplishments that further the achievement of the vision of the Department of Defense (DoD) Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program. That vision is to "realize a responsive world-class manufacturing capability to affordably meet the Warfighters' needs throughout the defense system life cycle." Sponsored by the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP) the award was established in 1999.
Award recipients are selected based on the following three criteria:
- Manufacturing Technology Achievement - Results of the project are unique, outstanding, and important to the DoD and ultimately the Warfighter.
- Transition / Implementation - Results of the project have been implemented on a specific platform / weapon system and/or at an industrial facility or there is a high degree of assurance that they will be implemented.
- Potential or Realized Benefits. - Benefits resulting from the project are significant to the DoD (may include increased capability, reduced cost, improved performance, reduced cycle time, higher reliability, weight reduction, environmental compliance, etc.)
- Nominations for the annual award are made primarily by the JDMTP Subpanels but may be made by any member of the JDMTP community. Nominated projects must have been managed by a manufacturing technology program of the Services or the Defense Logistics Agency. The "Selection Committee" consists of the four JDMTP Principals and the Director for OSD ManTech. The awards are presented annually at the Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) to the designated members of each selected project team.
A&A worked jointly with the Applied Research Lab at Penn State University and General Dynamics Electric Boat to develop and optimize a corrosion and wear resistant coating for the Virginia Class Submarine Retractable Bow Plane System in an overall effort to improve fleet readiness.
Alumina-Titania ceramic coatings are proven to provide enhanced corrosion and wear protection in harsh marine environments. However, these coatings have suffered numerous in service failures when subjected to relatively small levels of side loading when deposited on Monel® K-500 rods. Through an extensive testing and evaluation process it was determined that these failures can be traced to generally low adhesion strengths for the coating system. An improved procedure for depositing a high adhesion strength alumina-titania ceramic coating system was developed during a multi-year project and coatings with adhesion strengths in excess of 4700 psi have been consistently obtained.
As a result of this successful project all new construction VA Class Submarines are currently being outfitted with Retractable Bow Plane Rods which are coated with this newly developed Alumina-Titania system. Additionally, in service rods are being retrofitted with the coating system.
For more information or to discuss how this coating system may be transferable to one of your applications, please contact us.