Availability and Evaluation of Nonphotochemically Reactive Primers and Topcoats for Aerospace Applications

New coatings with low smog producing potential have been and are continuing to be evaluated for use in the aerospace industry. These new coatings have been proved in laboratory and shop testing to be equal in quality to the conventional coatings they are replacing. Environmental exposure tests to date are satisfactory and are continuing. However, difficulty has been encountered in obtaining consistent quality in large production batches. Some of the new coatings contain solvents that are slightly more toxic. Also, some of the modified coatings have lower flash points.

These new materials, which include both proprietary and military coatings, appear to be readily available. Coating costs of the new materials generally are higher, but vary from a reduction of approximately 7% to an increase of 35%.