Date of Award

12-1996

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

W. Brent Nixon, PhD

Abstract

The Air Force must periodically strip and paint its aircraft to prevent the damaging effects of corrosion. The paint removal process typically involves the use of toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride which are soon to be banned as a result of impending environmental regulations and increased costs associated with handling and disposing of such material. The Air Force must choose an alternative to methylene chloride chemical stripping which complies with environmental regulations and reduces costs. This thesis compares the life cycle costs and environmental impacts of two alternatives to chemical aircraft stripping. Plastic Media Blasting (PMB) and Modified Medium Pressure Water (MPW) are compared based on stripping a C-130 aircraft by the PMB process at the Lockheed Aircraft Service Center in Ontario, CA and the MPW process by Warner-Robins AFB, GA. The results of the study indicate that MPW has the lower life cycle costs.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GEE-ENV-96D-10

DTIC Accession Number

ADA325115

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