A new podcast takes a look at how the U.S. Army’s Corpus Christi Army Depot and multiple field-maintenance locations around the world are using new approaches when it comes to corrosion protection.
In this overview of the FinishingAndCoating.com article, the podcast hosts take a deep dive into explain how the familiar hexavalent chrome conversion coatings — long associated with aircraft like the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk — are being phased out, and how this strategic shift is more than cosmetic.
“It’s part of a broader initiative led by the US Army Aviation and Missile Command’s (AMCOM) Heavy Metals Working Group is working to eliminate hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, and transition to safer alternatives across Army aviation platforms,” writes Mark Feathers, Scott Howison, and Jasmine Briant from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command and Ted Ventresca, president/chief operating officer of CHEMEON Surface Technology.
This article is also fascinating look at that new technology, CHEMEON eTCP.
“We recognized that a technological advance in the chemistry of conversion coatings of aluminum had occurred under a Navy NESDI project, and the result was the development of eTCP,” Howison says. “It only made sense to partner with our Navy colleagues for a cross-service solution that could provide benefits to sustainability and readiness across the defense industrial base.”
Thank you to Tim Pennington from Finishing and Coating Magazine for the source material and to the authors Mark, Scott, Jasmine, and Ted, for this great insight. Part 2 of this podcast and article explores the origins of hexavalent chrome use, and the rigorous steps and logistics necessary to retire an effective but extremely hazardous legacy chemical. "
Part 1 Part 2
