QwikSeal®

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Problems Addressed:

Every airplane is held together by hundreds of thousands - sometimes millions of rivets and threaded fasteners. Today most are wet-installed; i.e., coated with sealant to reduce galvanic corrosion and to seal moisture out (or fuel in). The wet installation process is time-consuming and environmentally problematic, and installation quality can be operator-dependent.

Solution:

Machine application of pre-mixed but cure-blocked AMS3277 polythioether sealant directly to the fastener. The cure-blocked sealant is then covered by a nanocomposite high Tg "skin" that is impermeable to moisture. When the fastener is driven, installation stresses fracture the skin and ambient water vapor de-blocks the reaction and kicks off the normal sealant cure process.

Advantages:

• Eliminates pre-mixing or thawing of sealants and disposal of hazmat  overmix
• Eliminates messy hand application of sealant to fastener
• Eliminates nearly all post-installation cleanup and hazmat disposal
• Higher quality - sealant volume precisely metered/applied where needed
• Labor savings up to 20% (estimated) over conventional wet installation
• Compatible with all fastener types - solid, blind, threaded
• No changes to hole, fastener, or tooling

Timeline:

In development (Navy Phase II SBIR).

The SMRC Team:

PRC-DeSoto/PPG Aerospace