TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: F-35 - Joint Strike Fighter, ACAT I

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate innovative, low-cost material alternatives to aluminum-beryllium in military aerospace applications.

DESCRIPTION: Aluminum-beryllium materials are widely used in military aerospace applications because of their low density, high stiffness, and high high-temperature resistance characteristics. However, processing of these materials involves health risks to personnel. Current requirements for reductions in exposure levels for beryllium (Be) have been specified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (regulatory requirement) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) (consensus guide). There is therefore a need for innovative approaches for alternative materials as replacements for aluminum-beryllium.

PHASE I: Develop a low-cost approach for an alternative to aluminum-beryllium in low-density, high-stiffness, high-temperature applications.

PHASE II: Fully develop the concept demonstrated under Phase I through a material process specification and demonstration of material reproducibility. Perform testing and property comparisons with AlBeMet 162H, Beryllium SF-220-H, and Beryllium I-70-H. Demonstrate that the developed alloys are compatible with other aircraft system materials such as aluminum, titanium, SAE AMS 3281 sealants, primers, and topcoats.

PHASE III: Fully develop the required material allowables. Transition the developed material to JSF and other low density, high stiffness and high temperature aerospace applications.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: All current military aircraft utilize aluminum-beryllium alloys in many different applications. Subsequently, all of these aircraft platforms face the same concerns with respect to beryllium. In addition, commercial manufacturing or repair facilities could realize significant cost savings by utilizing less occupationally hazardous materials.

REFERENCES:
1. Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 228, of 26 Nov 02. OSHA "Occupational Exposure to Beryllium," Request for Information.

2. ACGIH, 2003 TLVs® and BEIs®, "Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices," Notice of Intended Changes.

3. Critical properties of Be-Al alloy for optics applications in aerospace dated 8 January 2008.

KEYWORDS: Beryllium; Aluminum-Beryllium; Magnesium; Anodize; Salt-Fog; Beryllium Dust.

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between April 21 and May 18, 2008, you may talk directly with the Topic Author(s) to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting May 19, 2008, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the DoD's SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (08.2 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 08.1 topic under which they are proposing.

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