Ultra hard aerospace coatings

Keywords: Aerospace, Coatings, Corrosion resistance

Ultra hard coatings for titanium, nickel super alloys and stainless steels were shown by Wallwork-Tecvac at the recent Farnborough 2002. These coatings,applied to mission- critical primary engine and control system components, are said to offer extended service life, additional lubricity and resistance to erosion in arduous conditions for both civil and military aircraft.

Wallwork-Tecvac, working together with Tier I aerospace suppliers, have developed a new series of Titanium Nitride and Chromium Nitride coatings that are applied to titanium, nickel super alloys and stainless steels to give enhanced resistance to erosion and reduce wear and galling problems. The Wallwork-Tecvac coatings shown at Farnborough are approved by Tier I aerospace component suppliers. These coatings are applied by a PVD process under vacuum using electron beam evaporation technology, which is said to meet the most stringent civil and military specifications for operations in desert regions and other tough operating conditions.

Applications include turbine compressor blades, control actuators and hydraulics components, main engine bearings, fuel delivery systems, and other mission critical units. In these applications typical service lives have been increased by factors of between 50 and 200 per cent.

Wallwork-Tecvac coatings are also used extensively by aerospace component makers to extend cutting tool life, allow dry machining, and enhance cutting speed when forming steels, high performance aluminium alloys, nickel super alloys and titanium alloys.

Details available from: Wallwork Heat Treatment Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 161 797 9111; Fax: +44 (0) 161 763 1861; Web site: www.wallworkht.com