Elimination of Chromate Conversion Coatings from Army Tactical Vehicle Manufacturing Processes,
Abstract
Many United States Army light tactical vehicles are fabricated from armor-grade aluminum. Aluminum-hulled tactical vehicles are coated with the Army's standard Chemical Agent Resistant Coating (CARC) system. The CARC system includes chemical pretreatments, epoxy primers, and polyurethane topcoats. The MIL-C-5541 chromate conversion coating pretreatment process included in the CARC specification contains hazardous chromic acid. Chromic acid is a SARA Title III extremely hazardous substance and air emissions of the material will be regulated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. In 1989, Red River Army Depot (RRAD) staff investigated replacing the hazardous chromate conversion coating with a more environmentally acceptable production process. The Army Acquisition Pollution Prevention Support Office reviewed the RRAD results and tasked Ocean City Research Corporation (OCRC) to conduct a comprehensive coating performance assessment and develop appropriate non-chromate production process control documents. The evaluation program demonstrated that chromate conversion coatings may be eliminated from aluminum-hulled tactical vehicle painting operations without degrading overall coating system performance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA330967
Entities
People
- Mark Ingle