Battling erosionEven gentle rain or dust can cause significant damage to coatings on aerospace structures moving at flight speed. At the Air Force Research Laboratory’s state-of-the-art erosion facilities, we provide military and commercial customers unmatched testing and evaluation services to help ensure coatings are robust enough to withstand these elements.
Setting the gold standard for qualification of aerospace materials susceptible to rain-erosion damage, this rig employs an 8-foot-diameter whirling-arm, double-blade tip simulating the impact-effects of high-speed flight through rain at speeds up to 650 mph. Test specimens are rotated horizontally at specific velocity through simulated rainfall rate of 1 inch per hour, with drop diameters of ~2 mm.
The SURE rig simulates the harsh environments of flight through rain at speeds up to Mach 2.3, with raindrop sizes between 1 and 2 mm. Our experts test systems, new technologies for aerospace and defense materials, abradable and ablative coatings for air and space vehicles, and structures such as radomes, leading edges, fan blades, and other parts susceptible to high-impact rain erosion.
The Particle Rig simulates the effect of dust, sand other fine matter on aircraft surfaces in a particle-laden environment at ambient temperatures. This rig generates wind speeds from 50 to 500 mph and uses a wide variety of particle types, sizes, and angles of attack to evaluate erosion of windscreens and transparencies, infrared window materials and leading edges.
