Development and Fabrication of Collapsible Fuel Storage Drums for Arctic Use

摘要

Materials research and end item development was conducted contractually to produce 500 gallon fuel storage drums capable of satisfying a need for serviceability at -60 F as components of the Arctic Forward Area Refueling Equipment (AFARE) system. A novel drum fabrication technique, combining the concepts of braided Kevlar fabric reinforcement and injection molding of a polyurethane elastomeric coating was employed to successfully produce two prototype drums. Failure of the drums during Arctic field testing was attributed to crystallization of the urethane coating elastomer after prolonged exposure below 0 F.