Composite Barrier Coating for Projectile Penetration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for applying protective coatings to liquid containers, such as hydrocarbon fuel tanks, are inefficient in creating a composite-material layer that effectively prevents leakage, particularly when subjected to projectile penetration.
Innovation Solution
A spray-application method that merges two independently sprayed streams of materials, one containing wet high-elastomeric material and the other dry liquid-imbiber beads, with adjustable flow rates and spray head positions to achieve a 78% elastomeric and 22% bead composition, ensuring optimal contact time and distribution for enhanced leakage prevention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a composite-material layer with liquid-imbiber beads is applied to prevent leakage, then the anti-leakage performance is improved, but the application process complexity increases due to merging two independently sprayed streams
Solution Approach 1:
The coating application process is segmented into two independent spray streams: one applying high-elastomeric material and the other applying liquid-imbiber beads. This allows each material to be optimized and controlled separately while achieving the composite protective layer when they merge on the target surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Air is used as an intermediary medium to carry and merge the two independently sprayed streams of high-elastomeric material and liquid-imbiber beads. The air stream facilitates the blending and distribution of both materials onto the target surface, enabling the formation of the composite coating without direct mechanical mixing.
2Manufacturing precision
If the spray heads are positioned closer to achieve better material distribution, then the homogeneity of the composite layer is improved, but the contact time between beads and elastomeric material decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows dynamic adjustment of spray head positions along the longitudinal axis, enabling optimization of both contact time and distribution homogeneity based on specific application requirements. The adjustable positioning provides flexibility to balance between material interaction time and coating uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The spray head positions are made variable rather than fixed, allowing adjustment of key parameters (distance from target, relative positioning) to optimize the balance between contact time and material distribution homogeneity for different application scenarios.
3Reliability
If the flow rate of liquid-imbiber beads is increased to enhance leakage prevention, then the protective performance is improved, but the composition ratio deviates from the optimal 78% elastomeric and 22% bead mixture
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates flow rate control mechanisms that can be adjusted to maintain the optimal composition ratio of 78% high-elastomeric material and 22% liquid-imbiber beads. By monitoring and controlling the flow rates of both streams, the system ensures consistent material distribution and prevents deviation from the desired composition.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively forms a composite-material layer that significantly enhances the container's ability to prevent leakage by allowing the liquid-imbiber beads to absorb and swell, closing off puncture wounds, thereby providing a robust anti-leakage barrier.
Implementation Method 1
liquid-imbiber bead-like elements which, when contacted by liquid, imbibe the liquid and swell
Implementation Method 2
a spray-application manner for creating the second-mentioned one of these two types of layers
Data Source
AI summary
A method for spray-creating a composite-material layer on the outside surface of a liquid container to defeat liquid leakage following a projectile penetration of the container. The method includes (a) defining a by-weight percentage blend of two penetration-reaction materials, where the contribution of one such material, an initially liquid and wet-sprayable, but subsequently curable-to-dry, high-elastomeric body-forming material, is larger than that of the other material, which takes the form of a population of dry, liquid-imbibing bead elements, (b) creating weight-percentage-differentiated, simultaneous sprays of these two materials for contact-blending, during spraying, into a composite spray en route in the air toward the region of a target liquid container, and (c) as a part of such creating, controlling the amount of en route, inter-material, contact blend time between the two materials.