Composite Maintenance Technology Interchange Meeting (TIM)

On June 14-16, 2016 at the Drexler Manor Conference Center in Norfolk, Virginia, the Composite Maintainers Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) brought together maintainers, suppliers, engineers, and experts in the area of composite maintenance from industry and multiple branches of the U.S. government.

During a brainstorming session at the TIM, three critical composite material needs were identified by NCMS and attendees from the Air Force, Navy, and Army as obstacles facing the DoD. NCMS formed the three following working groups comprised of various representatives from the military and
industry: supply issues, body of knowledge/best practices, and design for supportability. All three working groups kicked off on December 12, 2016.

Supply Issues
The goal of this working group is to increase awareness of composite material requirements and correct known material issues, specifically with the Defense Logistics Agency.

During the kickoff meeting, participants discussed known issues such as supply classifications, size of orders, and packaging standards; the need to identify all materials used on a regular basis including prebags, fibers, adhesives, fasteners, and specialty materials; and the possibility of creating
a clearinghouse.

Body of Knowledge/Best Practices
The goal of this working group is to determine the feasibility of sharing common composite repair knowledge across the community with a repository of information, possibly with a website.

The participants of this group discussed what information  and resources are already publicly available and what is determined to be government use only; considered utilizing pre-existing websites such as Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), JTEG, and Utah’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI) as templates or hosts for the repository; and concluded that the database should include repairs information, repair videos, research and development data, projects information, instructional videos, subject matter experts’ email addresses, and lessons learned (most useful and hardest).

Design for Supportability
The goal of this working group is to create a document which can be provided to programs detailing the supportability products required for repair programs and stress the importance of developing those products early in the acquisition process.

At kickoff, this team discussed the need for a checklist or guide of useful support products including timelines for when each needs to be in place; the possibility of incorporating damage tolerance and repairs for both structural and non-structural components in the document; and the need to balance cost effectiveness with the ever-expanding new technologies.