Tetramer has been awarded a SBIR Phase II.5 contract (N6833519C0153) for the continued development of a UV curable optical adhesive, TIMA™, for use in mechanical splices for the repair of avionic fiber optic systems in the F/A-18 Hornet and other military aircraft. Through the Phase I and II programs, Tetramer carefully screened materials to build a database of physical proerties which was then used to develop a formulation which demonstrated superior shelf life and splice performance, outperforming all applicable quality criteria outlined in MIL-PRF-24793A.
In this Phase II.5 program, Tetramer will bring the material into MIL specifications for transition to DoD platforms. The focus of this work will be on determining the environmental sensitivities with respect to mechanical splice configurations, mitigation of the operational risk thought highly accelerated lifetime testing in a representative system, and the certification of the adhesive against applicable MIL specification in representative splice components and operational environments. By the end of the Phase II.5 program, Tetramer will advance the TIMA™ adhesive technology to a TRL of 6-7.
