Coating reduces wear on aerospace alloys by 75%
Comparative wear tests carried out by Tecvac have revealed that Nitron Flight coatings reduced abrasive wear on high performance alloy surfaces by more than 75%.
The coatings, with hardnesses of 1800HV, can be applied to titanium, steel and advanced alloy surfaces, such as aero-engine blades, at temperatures up to 700ºC. The coatings are applied in a duplex process using physical vapour deposition (PVD) to apply hard thin film coatings to titanium and other advanced aerospace alloys in a number of basic formulations, including titanium nitride (TiN), titanium carbonitride (TiCN), and a variety of other multiple layer coatings.
PVD technology can apply graded coatings, precision-engineered in thickness and composition, to critical flying parts such as aero-engine blades and other high stress components. The coatings, from 3 to 30µ thick depending upon the application, can substantially reduce both wear and friction, to enable engine and airframe designers to reduce total life costs, extend maintenance intervals, increase aircraft availability, reduce specific fuel consumption and, by allowing substitution of lighter weight metals, reduce the use of expensive and costly alloys, while simultaneously increasing payloads.
Tecvac Ltd is also featuring the new InnerArmor process, which provides a DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating on the internal surfaces of flying parts and aerospace engine components. DLC coatings can be applied to the internal surfaces of bores, tubes and hydraulic cylinders.
This enhanced plasma coating process will apply DLC coating up to 50µ thick to the internal surfaces of tubes and bores up to 3m in length. The DLC coatings are inert and environmentally friendly. They can reduce friction losses to very low levels, and provide a very hard corrosion-resistant film. Tecvac has already identified aerospace coating applications in control systems, fuel management and delivery & hydraulics systems, and expects to find many other internal applications, especially bores in engine sub-systems, where DLC coating has previously proved difficult or impossible to apply.
Heat treatment services are also being shown by Tecvac and parent company Wallwork Heat Treatment, including plasma nitriding, vacuum carburising, super-annealing, solution treatments and other aerospace approved metallurgical services.
Tecvac Ltd and Wallwork Heat Treatment Ltd jointly hold accreditations to major manufacturers, including Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Airbus, Hawker Beechcraft and Goodrich, as well as meeting NADCAP and AS9000 standards.
