Development of Improved LACV-30 Propeller Blade Coatings for Protection Against Sand and Rain Erosion and Marine Environment Corrosion

摘要

An investigation was conducted of candidate systems offering potential erosion and corrosion protection when applied as coatings to Aluminum 7075 alloy propeller blades used to propel air cushioned vehicles operating in severe environments. This work focused on (1) special hard anodized and (2) hard nickel electroplated coatings as candidate protective systems with sand/rain erosion testing to evaluate their merits. Attributes of the coating systems developed and studied included: For (1) Ways and means to produce and control deposit hardness for optimum erosion resistance, methods of bonding to blades for high integrity adhesion, and inclusion of sacrificial corrosion protection electroplates in the coating systems (zinc and zinc-nickel alloy). For (2) Incorporation of dry film lubricant systems on sealed hardcoats of various anodic coating thicknesses to enhance erosion performance. Study results indicated that anodized coatings did not provide suitable erosion protection to Aluminum 7075 in sand/rain environments, even with dry film lubricant supplemental films. Electroplated hard nickel coatings, Vickers hardnesses in the range of 380 to 440, appeared better for combined sand/rain erosion resistance based on comparisons with prior work. Dilute phosphoric anodizing the aluminum substrates led to excellent bonds and improved corrosion resistance when subsequently plated with ductile nickel from a low pH bath, followed by hard nickel electroplate.