Jared Johnson

Refinement of foam backfill technology for expedient airfield damage repair; Phase II : development of prototype foam dispensing equipment and improved tactics, techniques and procedures

Abstract : This report describes the development and evaluation of prototype foam dispensing equipment, foam materials, and repair tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for rapid airfield damage repair (RADR) using foam backfill technology. Three different prototype foam dispensing systems were evaluated, two of which were developed in-house, along with foam products from two vendors and different repair methods and techniques to improve the TTPs for foam backfill technology. Results from full-scale field testing showed that the top performing prototype system was a hose pump system, and the top performing foam material was Foam-iT! 10 Slow. Plastic liners were a successful technique for a moisture barrier to ensure the quality of the repair material. Foam cutting methods, such as scarfer and reciprocating saw, were good options; how-ever, both methods have safety concerns and add time and manpower to the repair process. Overall, the technology proved to be effective in meeting RADR requirements. Repair times were comparable to those of the standard flowable fill backfill method. Repair performance under simulated F-15E aircraft traffic was satisfactory. All repairs met the 2-hr requirement of 100 passes and the expedient repair requirement of 500 passes. Only one repair met the RADR requirement of 3,500 passes.