SBIR-STTR Award

Modern military aircraft widely employ hot metallic structures comprised of thin (up to 0.160 inch) panels made of titanium alloy Ti-6-2-4-2. These hot structures are operating in harsh environmental conditions and are subjected to cyclical loads causing cracking problems. In many instances the repair and replacement of these damaged structures is extremely labor and time intensive in disassembly and reinstallation operations. In situ repair of the damaged structures would provide a cost effective solution to restoration of the damaged structures by eliminating the need in costly and time consuming disassembly and reinstallation operations potentially saving millions of dollars. The proposed advanced manufacturing process offers a low heat input metal deposition with a reliable metallurgical bond, while combining pre-and post-deposition machining operations in one automated repair process and machine. This promises to revolutionize the cost and time of repair of cracked aircraft hot structures. Recent advances with PMDT low heat input flat wire metal deposition encompasses the metal deposition and machining capabilities into one integrated system. Implementation of this technology would have significant technical and economic value for a myriad of US Government and commercial industrial applications