The Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) Tactical Innovation Implementation Lab (TIIL) sprinted toward the future with the Cold Spray Sprint in January, an effort that kicked off the deployment of cutting-edge cold spray technology to shipyards and depot-level maintenance centers.

Cold spray is a technology that uses ultra-high velocities instead of high temperatures to bond material to the part being resurfaced. Cold Spray technology allows worn parts to be resurfaced at a fraction of the cost of buying a new one. This both speeds the delivery of parts back to the fleet and strengthens NAVSEA’s culture of affordability by using a low-cost solution to return otherwise worn parts back to service. Located on board the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport, the TIIL is now deeply involved in the actual deployment of cold spray technology to the Navy’s shipyards.

Jeff Campbell, the TIIL’s Cold Spray Project Manager, recently attended a conference in Pearl Harbor with several of the stakeholders involved in the deployment of cold spray technology. The group made a site visit to Pearl Harbor’s new cold spray facility and also visited a low-pressure Naval Air Forces (NAVAIR) facility at the Marine base on Kaneohe.

“We’re partnering with NAVAIR, the Marines, and the Army Research Lab,” Campbell said. “That conference was an opportunity to meet folks face-to-face so we can discuss some of the challenges we still have. Some of the challenges going forward are permits, information technology support, and developing training. We thought about operator training, but we didn’t really think about the engineering training and quality assurance training, so that’s an area we’re going to pursue.”

Another angle Campbell is examining is the acquisition and fielding of portable units that can be used in confined spaces aboard ships, perhaps even while the ship is underway.  Current units are stationary and the parts must be brought to the unit for the repair work. These cold spray units are controlled by robots while a technician monitors the operation.  Campbell said the TIIL is working to develop portable systems that can be operated by hand.

“Some of the next steps forward are portable cold spray units that can be used without a robot. The qualified spray procedures will be qualified by a robot, and then your hand-spray procedures will be qualified against that, using that as a baseline,” said Campbell. “The ultimate goal is shipboard use. We’re in the research and development phase of developing a portable unit.”

Campbell said one version of a portable unit is the “Dragonfly” that can be disassembled into three parts, allowing it to be transported through narrow hatches on ships. It is being developed at Naval Base Kitsap – Bangor as a rapid innovation fund (RIF) project.

The deployment of cold spray promises to speed up the refurbishment of worn parts, but initial fielding of a new technology is always a challenge. Resistance to new ideas is a normal part of the process, but the TIIL is finding that challenge easier to overcome than anticipated.

Eventually larger Navy ships might go to sea with a cold spray unit onboard, enabling the ship to rapidly perform depot-level maintenance while underway. This will further reduce costs and increase the warfighters’ efficiency by allowing them a chance to return worn parts to service that otherwise would need to come back to a shipyard in the U.S.

“The end goal is to do organic repairs in the shipyard,” said Campbell. However, as the TIIL continues to refine cold spray technology and get its use woven into the fabric of naval maintenance, cold spray promises to be a game-changing technology for the Navy.

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