Abstract
Nonskid coatings are typically used on the flight deck of aircraft carriers and high traffic areas of a ships’ deck. At this time, there are only a few approved materials available for use as nonskid coating for landing areas onboard US Navy vessels. Nonskid coating materials with improved performance, lower cost, and decreased maintenance are currently in development. One of the most important requirements for any nonskid coating system is its resistance to degradation or disbondment from mechanical impact and wear induced by the arresting gear cable during aircraft landing operations. In addition, these coatings must also offer good weathering and corrosion performance characteristics in the harsh marine environment.
Currently, there are no suitable devices or standard test procedures available for the impact and wear testing of nonskid coatings to evaluate their performance. The present paper describes the design and construction of such a device, including the protocol for conducting impact/wear tests. The apparatus consists of a “motor and frictionless pulley arrangement” installed on the top of a 12 ft x 4 ft frame. The electric motor has a timed electromagnetic clutch. This system approximately mimics some of the mechanisms of wear and impact damage observed during the landing operations of an aircraft on a carrier deck. Coating degradation (failure) is noted during the simulated tests in a comparable number of test runs as is seen with actual aircraft deck landings. The morphology of damage observed with the test apparatus is also similar to that observed in actual field conditions. The test procedure described provides a relatively inexpensive, rapid, and repeatable measure of a nonskid coating system’s ability to withstand wear degradation and failure. The apparatus can also be adapted for use with other coating systems.
