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422nd SCMS saves money with ‘cold spray’

  • Published
  • By John Parker
  • Staff Writer
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The 422nd Supply Chain Management Squadron recently approved a money-saving and faster method to solve a common corrosion problem that affects electricity generators aboard KC-135R aerial refueling tankers.

Aircraft operations in harsh environments can often lead to surface corrosion of the input housing assembly of the Stratotankers' Constant Speed Drive, part of electricity generation for the planes. The damage is significant enough that the housings must routinely be replaced.

The 422nd SCMS, however, recently awarded a competitive contract for a repair method that can spray away the problem.

The squadron chose aerospace company MOOG to perform "cold spray" repairs that restore the housings' surfaces, avoiding the higher cost of replacing them due to wear problems.

The KC-135's CSD input housings are made of cast magnesium. The cold spray method blasts magnesium powder at supersonic speeds to build up and replace missing material.

Mechanics and electrical technicians at Tinker Air Force Base received a repaired 422nd SCMS housing earlier this month. The part had been "virtually eaten away" in one section but came back "like new," squadron members said.

The repair method also cuts the need for a higher inventory of spare parts, reduces repair time and improves the pace of production. The squadron plans to evaluate the cold spray method for other aircraft component repairs. The technique can be used with other materials, including titanium, aluminum, stainless steel and more.

The Air Force operates more than 400 KC-135s on active duty and in the Guard and Reserves.

Lt. Col. Adam Minnich, 422nd SCMS commander, said the cold spray repair method is "truly significant because it helps supply and maintenance overcome some of the parts obsolescence issues which plague our legacy weapons systems.

"Cold spray could potentially provide the Air Force a huge cost savings by cutting parts lead time, reducing overall parts inventory and improving organic maintenance yield rates. By evaluating cold spray on other parts candidates, I think we'll see that the cold spray process will benefit the Air Force across several weapons platforms."