I. MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF PMB, OTHER THAN AIRCRAFT AIRFRAMES

We still believe that the PMB process offers major advantages to the military, not only for the stripping of airframes but also for the depainting of thousands of pieces of ground support equipment, motor vehicles, marine vessels, missiles, tanks, machinery and equipment and many commercial-type products procures by the armed forces.

Of particular significance will be the removal of Chemical Agent Resistant Coatings (CARC), a program initiated by the Department of the Army. CARC is the polyurethane system and the solvents used as a resin vehicle are very aggressive. In order for the system to be properly applied, the old topcoats must be completely removed. If this is not done, there is a high probability of paint failure occasioned by the “lifting” of old coatings and the breaking of the paint film integrity.

There is almost a natural union between the CARC program and the PMB process. Not only will the PMB process successfully remove the thick, multi-layered coatings found on equipment in the field, but it will remove it rapidly and without damage to hoses, brake lines, bearings, or seals. Nuts, bolts and screw heads, which have become almost buried in paint, will look as if they had been replaced with brand new hardware. Sheet metal panels on vehicles and equipment will be left without any etch whatsoever and will appear to have been newly fabricated. Since the PMB process does not remove metal, the longevity of equipment will be greatly extended and will be left without the dry and battered look occasioned by sandblasting,.

Finally, where PMB might otherwise compete with pneumatically-conveyed hard abrasive, such a silica sand, or walnut shells, the reduction in the amount of masking of sensitive accessories and the reduction in contaminated waste will be major cost offset.

III. SELECTIVE STRIPPING

The operator control which is possible with the PMB process reduces masking requirements and affords an operator discretion in the determination of the number of coatings to be removed, including primer and surface fillers. Although this claim has been made almost from the beginning of the PMB technology, to a painter the ability to remove one layer of paint at a time borders on alchemy.

Examples of the degree of control possible for selective paint layer removal include a 1949 Willys Overland which was being restored by a Tucson, Arizona paint shop. STI removed approximately 8 separate paint systems from this vehicle, and somewhere between the 5^th and 6^th paint layer discovered an old advertisement. Thinking that the new owner might find this interesting for his restoration documents, STI completely remove the paint from around the sign and, subsequently, removed only the paint layers covering the sign. You could still read the old hand-lettered sign, “Homaid Bread Co., Treatype Products, 1406 Lily St., Tucson.” Needless to say, the owner was delighted.

II. POWDER COATINGS

Another potentially large market for PMB is the removal of powder coats, especially from sensitive substrates, such as aluminum and magnesium. Powder coat systems are being used increasingly in the aerospace and high-tech industries. In the case of powder coated magnesium castings used in the manufacture of compound archery bows, the PMB process eliminated the heat stress problem associated with burn off ovens and left a superior surface finish for re coating.

III. OTHER EXAMPLES

Another great example of the virtues of PMB include the stripping of old paint and hull coating from a line of bolts attaching the hull of a Grumman Widgeon to its airframe. STI completed the stripping work on this airframe for the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona. The previous owner had begun chemically stripping the airframe and found that the chemicals would not remove the hull coating, even with wire brushes. There were literally thousands of these bolts surrounding the entire airframe. Imagine the time it would have taken to wire brush these seams clean, and the resulting painting surface with which you would be left. The complete cleaning of these bolts was accomplished in only a few hours using PMB technology. Keep in mid that the hardware on this aircraft was over 40 years old but when completed it almost looked as if it had just been replaced.

Besides the many component and vehicle applications, there are a number of small tools and machinery ideally suited to the PMB technology. A common, 15-ton aircraft axle jack can be stripped clean in 2.5 minutes. There is virtually no making required.

The possible uses for PMB in the military are endless. Everything from weapons systems to motor vehicles, marine vessels, tools and machinery and even office furniture can utilize the process for the rapid and safe removal of paint or other coatings.

The following case studies are just the tip of the iceberg, and we think you will agree after seeing these examples that there is a broad new horizon for PMB, which is worthy of immediate consideration by the military, other government agencies and the private sector.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Plastic Media Blasting For Applications Other Than Airc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.