STRUCTURAL REPAIR FOR STRYKER HH STEEL BODY PANELS USING COLD SPRAY

Corrosion damage to military ground vehicles costs the U.S. Army around $1.6B per year. A large part of that cost is related to keeping vehicles like the Stryker at their full fighting capability. Corrosion damage has been a common finding on Stryker vehicles and even light corrosion damage, which often reaches 10% of the body thickness or more, can degrade its armor protection rating and require replacement. Recently, cold spray deposition has been shown to be capable of restoring the full ballistic resistance of corrosion damaged high hard steel armor panels. These repairs can be done on-vehicle in depot facilities, using mobile high-pressure cold spray systems. This repair capability can reduce the number of entire side, roof, and floor panels that need to be cut out and re-welded in, which is the only currently approved repair operation for corrosion damage that exceeds allowable depths.

Citation: V.K. Champagne, C.A. Widener, A.T. Nardi, G.D. Ferguson, “Structural Repair for Stryker HH Steel Body Panels Using Cold Spray”, In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 13-15, 2019.