More Resistance
A new surface material for carrier decks may lead to improved readiness
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The Navy has been experimenting — with mixed success — with a new non-skid coating for the decks of its aircraft carriers that promises to reduce maintenance requirements and associated costs while improving carrier availability for operations.
Non-skid is a rough surface material that enables boots and tires to grip the deck and gain traction helpful for moving large objects and preventing slippage on the deck or, worse, overboard. The successful execution of the entire spectrum of hazardous flight-deck operations depends on the presence and adequacy of a non-skid surface on carrier decks. Worn, missing, or inadequate non-skid materials present hazards that the Navy ignores at its peril.
For example, in 1999, an aircraft was landing on the flight deck of an amphibious assault ship when sections of non-skid came apart in large pieces under the aircraft, according to a Naval Safety Center spokesman. A portion of the flight deck was declared unsafe, and the squadron had to cancel flight operations for the duration — 30 days — of the deployment. The pilots lost the ability to remain carrier-qualified, the spokesman said.
Because of wear and tear — especially from the pounding of tailhooks as aircraft land on the deck — legacy coatings of non-skid have not been able to survive and provide protection for an entire six-month carrier deployment and must be repaired during and after deployment. A more durable non-skid material translates into real gains in readiness and savings in maintenance, resulting in more operational flexibility of the Navy’s carrier fleet.
To provide a better non-skid material, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the Navy’s program executive office for aircraft carriers hired a small Texas contractor, Texas Research International-Austin Inc. (TRI-Austin) to develop a new solvent-free material called “Tough-Grip” under a Small Business Innovative Research agreement, a type of contract used by the Pentagon to attract small companies with innovative ideas.
Details of Tough-Grip’s materials are proprietary, said Dexter Myers, vice president for business development and director of marine composites at TRI-Austin, who described Tough Grip as a glass-fiber reinforced composite coating with toughening agents, and no volatile organic chemical compounds such as solvents, nor toxic or cancer-causing compounds. It is packaged in 5-gallon buckets and applied to the deck.
“Solvents dissipate over a period of time and weaken the coating,” he said. Tough-Grip “has been engineered so the topcoat and the primer have a higher adhesion level.”
TRI-Austin’s non-skid was selected because it incorporates the best raw materials “to produce higher durability and better wear resistance than existing non-skid products, as well as enabling more rapid application,” said Kevin Sykes, spokesman for NAVSEA.
The new higher-durability non-skid “will last 50-percent longer, provide better slip resistance for aircraft and personnel and ultimately reduce the number of coatings per deployment cycle,” Sykes said.
The better slip resistance will improve flight-deck safety, and officials hope it will reduce instances of non-skid surfaces separating from the flight deck in chunks and being sucked up into aircraft engines, causing significant damage.
Tough-Grip was tested on the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman during the ship’s last deployment, which ended in April 2005, with 65,000 square feet of the material applied to the flight deck. It received a passing grade.
“[It] worked great, held on for a long time, didn’t absorb and was very resilient,” said Capt. James Gigliotti, the carrier’s commanding officer.
One of the qualities desired in non-skid coating is resistance to absorbing the jet fuel, hydraulic fluid and other lubricants endemic on a carrier deck.
“It is more durable than the current non-skid,” said Cmdr. Doug Carsten, the carrier’s air boss, the officer responsible for the flight deck.
After the deployment, the carrier’s deck still was considered fully qualified for flight operations.
“This means that a carrier can return from deployment and not have to have non-skid maintenance, and stay surge ready,” Myers said.
In the past, 30 days were required to repair the flight deck after a six-month deployment.
The USS Enterprise, currently on deployment to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf, is the second carrier to experiment with Tough-Grip, but has experienced problems with the coating.
The new non-skid applied before deployment “does not have sufficient profile height in areas to maintain slip resistance,” said Sykes. “It has been wearing in small, irregular-size patches, which usually occur later in deployment with less robust products.”
NAVSEA has begun an engineering investigation regarding the formula of the Tough-Grip and the application process for each carrier, and has suspended further procurement or application of the non-skid pending the outcome.
Myers said two different contractors applied the Tough-Grip on the two carriers, and speculates that a difference in their application process will explain the differences in how it performed on the Truman and Enterprise.
“It is widely accepted in the coatings industry” that application techniques, instruction and training can affect the performance of coatings, Myers said.
The Navy has invested approximately $1.1 million in developing, testing and qualifying the new non-skid material. The service has crunched the numbers to compare the costs of applying non-skid on a carrier deck. The old non-skid cost approximately $4 per square foot for labor (double for foreign labor) and $2 per square foot for material. The new non-skid material costs the same, but labor comes in at somewhat less, $2.50 per square foot.
For the Navy, the big savings will accrue with the durability of the new product. The old non-skid on the landing area of the flight deck was required to endure 10,000 arrested landings. The new material is designed to endure 15,000 arrested landings.
According to an official in the Navy’s program office for aircraft carriers, the new non-skid application, beginning in fiscal year 2006 and fully implemented by fiscal year 2008, would enable the Navy to avoid costs of $124.4 million through 2012. The Navy orders $4 million to $6 million in non-skid material each year.
TRI-Austin currently is developing a new non-skid suitable for submerged applications, such as for the decks of submarines that must “withstand long periods of time in a submerged state,” Sykes said, citing critical performance properties such as adhesion, flexibility — because of compression of the hull due to water pressure at depth — and long-term resistance to seawater.
