- Wing structures
- Landing gear (axles, pins, bearings)
- Actuation systems (flaps, thrust reversing, pumps)
- Transmission (gears, shafts)
- Engines (combustion liners, discharge nozzles, blades, compressor casings, turbine)
- Engine cowling
We have been instrumental in supporting the UK aerospace industry in regaining thermal spray applications to the UK market, through our superior quality and performance.
Why choose us
Our team is at the core of our business. It’s their extensive knowledge of aerospace defence coatings that enables us to offer our customers cost-effective and innovative solutions to the problems they face. In addition to our routine services, we are often involved in Research & Development projects for global leaders in the Automotive, Marine and Aluminium industries.
We pride ourselves on exceptional customer focus across all departments – we make sure to keep our clients informed and meet our deadlines, so they can rest assured that they can always rely on our word.
What’s more, in addition to our full coated components manufacture package, which covers everything from machining to finishing and quality control, we offer complimentary services such as the salvage and repair of components through electrochemical or mechanical stripping.
The exceptional experience of our team as Thermal Spray specialists has been recognise by multinational coating technology developer and manufacturer, Flame Spray Technologies (FST), who have identified us as their sole surface engineering partner, further cementing our global reach.
Together with our wide distribution network, we are able to guarantee our customers a technical service tailored to their needs. This local approach, combined with our global reach, allows us to provide effective support to a large-scale client base.
Our successful support of the MRO industry has been as a result of our high level of expertise, ability to act quickly to complex requirements, offering quick turnarounds and meeting Aircraft On Ground (AOG) demands. We are able to do this through our wide range of in-house capabilities and management of an established supply chain, often providing a one-stop-shop for all of our customers’ needs.
Our range of aerospace thermal spray coatings includes specialist materials such as ceramics, metallics or cermets. These include Chrome Oxide, AlSi Polyester, Graphite, Boron, Nickel Graphite, NiCrAl Bentonite, stabilised Zirconia (Yttria, Magnesia), MCrAlY (CoNiCrAlY) and carbides (Tungsten, Chrome).
Such aerospace and defence coatings can be used for a variety of specific applications for the purpose of wear resistance, clearance control (abradable), thermal barrier, high temperature oxidation resistance and anti-fretting.
FIND A DEFENCE & AEROSPACE SOLUTION
Defence & Aerospace Thermal Spray Coating Techniques
As part of our specialised capabilities for the Aerospace & Defence industry, we offer a range of thermal spray coating techniques, which have been tailored to target the most common challenges companies in this sphere encounter. For legacy and obsolete products, our processes are often also applied as salvage and repair. We assist companies in bringing such parts back to full or even higher performance, whether it be to the requirements of an existing Component Maintenance Manuals (CMM) or working with our customers’ and OEM’s to establish new schemes.
Plasma Spraying for Defence & Aerospace
Using a highly energetic plasma jet, we partially melt down the material particles and accelerate them to deposit the coating across the surface of the part. The plasma spraying technique allows us to customise the properties of the plasma stream using a range of settings, including electric current, gas type, and gas mixture ratio, to meet the specific needs of our aerospace and defence customers’ applications and create a bespoke aerospace coating.
With a vast choice of materials, aerospace and defence plasma sprayed coatings can be tailored for a variety of uses such as clearance control, lightning strike protection, thermal and electrical insulation, as well as resistance to wear, corrosion and oxidation.
HVOF for Defence & Aerospace
Another technique commonly used to apply aerospace thermal spray coatings is HVOF (High Velocity Oxygen Fuel). During this process, oxygen and fuel is burned in a combustion chamber and the resulting spray stream of hot gas is used to melt and accelerate the powder material onto the surface of the part. The resulting coating has exceptionally low porosity and offers high bond strength unparalleled by most alternative solutions.
This process is a popular choice in the Defence & Aerospace industries due to its numerous applications. HVOF coatings are commonly used to combat high wear conditions (sliding, abrasion, erosion), as well as corrosive conditions (gases, acids, saltwater) and high temperature environments (oxidation, thermal stability).
Flame Spraying for Defence & Aerospace
Occasionally, our Defence & Aerospace clients also opt for combustion flame spraying. Similar to HVOF in that it combines fuel with oxygen, flame spraying creates a source of energy that can efficiently apply a range of metallic and ceramic aerospace thermal spray coatings.
The key factor of combustion flame spraying is the amount of energy the flame has. Combustion flame spraying uses relatively low energy compared to its thermal spray counterparts and the benefit of this is that it can be applied to components that have low thermal stability, whether it be a result of component geometry or substrate material.
Combustion flame spraying is a cost-effective technique often used to repair high cost defence and aerospace components and restore their dimensions. This is due to it being possible to apply very thick coatings with relatively small internal stresses, making this process perfect for abradable and clearance control coatings.
Diamond surface grinding of Defence & Aerospace components
Diamond surface grinding is part of our post coating service. We provide a range of first-class finishing services and treatments for high precision aerospace and defence components which are either delivered by our team of in-house specialists or across the established supply chain of experts we manage. Either way, you are guaranteed competitive pricing and consistent service quality.