Technology Title
VSM Preservation System (VSMPS) – VSM Group LLC
Tech Focus Area
Coatings and Corrosion Prevention
Abstract
Discussion of the Innovation Solution.
VSM Group LLC is a SDVOSB company dedicated to providing innovative corrosion solutions to the DOD. VSM Group LLC developed the VSM Preservation System (VSMPS) to address a part of the multibillion-dollar corrosion challenge faced by our Navy. The goal was to provide a long-term permanent solution that would yield a robust ROI and reduce the substantial opportunity cost due to constant re-application of products and maintenance. VSMPS can be applied on anything that can be fully encapsulated and there is no need for HAZMAT, hotwork, tag out, or downtime. Due to the 10 year guarantee, VSMPS is only applied by professional certified installers to assure the quality and longevity of the application.
Problem Statement
Over the past decade, the U.S. Navy facing a continuous, multi-billion-dollar corrosion challenge, identified topside carbon steel kickpipes on weather decks as a priority problem to address. Circa 2018, understanding that CRES replacement is highly disruptive, requiring electrical system outages, cable removal, and extensive hot work, an effort was launched by SEA 05 (aided by Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)) to investigate alternatives to replacement. VSMPS was extensively tested and ultimately approved for use on surface ships and CVNs in lieu of replacing kickpipes with CRES. NRL testing confirmed that VSMPS outperforms all evaluated coatings, including other wrap and coating systems, and is backed by a ten-year guarantee. It was found to be technically superior to all other products and the ONLY product approved for installation to prevent the replacement of kickpipes (NAVSEA ltr Serial 05Z/409 (dtd 3 Jul 25).
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Benefits to the DOD.
Default CRES backfits impose a complex 7+ step replacement process that takes vital ship systems offline and introduces significant risk to availability on time completion and operational schedules. Operationally, VSMPS maximizes fleet readiness by eliminating system downtime, enabling parallel workstream execution during ship availabilities, and ensuring a predictable 10+ year maintenance cycle. While kickpipes are important, there are numerous chronic topside corrosion areas that would benefit from VSMPS to buy service life and save maintenance dollars.
The proactive implementation of VSMPS will prevent the need to replace a kickpipe for a minimum period of 10+ years and unlocks and estimated $15 billion service life savings for kickpipes alone. This savings is compounded by reductions in labor, material, and hot work safety overhead across the active and reserve Fleets. Also, an exponential reduction in opportunity cost is immediately realized allowing our sailors to focus on training not maintenance.
Technical Maturity/Demonstration Results
VSMPS has been applied to more than 4,000 kickpipes on Surface ships with zero failures. Post installation inspections of coated assets spanning 4-6 years have validated operational performance and favorable support has been unanimous.
