Microstructural Effects of Plastic Media Blasting on Graphite Epoxy Composites

The Naval Air Development Center is conducting a program to characterize the effects of Plastic Media Blasting (PMB) as a coating removal process. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of PMB on the microstructure of graphite/epoxy (Gr/Ep) materials. In the first phase of the program, screening tests were performed to evaluate and optimize the critical operating parameters. For Phase II of the program, optimized parameters were chosen from the Phase I test results and the effects of four repeat paint and blast cycles were determined on graphite/epoxy panels. After four repeat blast cycles, several of the conditions caused minimal visible damage.