Aerospace

Surface Engineering is one of the 22 national competencies and enablers across all high-value manufacturing sectors in the UK. In modern ‘high value’ manufacturing it is impossible to design new products without modifying the surface to achieve performance. The advanced Castolin Eutectic workshop in Newcastle, UK, has provided patented state-of-the art surface engineering technology befitting the high value manufacturing achievements made in the building of the HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales Aircraft Carriers.

In the case of an aircraft STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing), traditional paint systems are no longer capable of meeting the extreme environments experienced on the surface of the aircraft carrier deck. The flight deck of the QE Class Carriers is subjected to an extreme aero-thermal environment when the Joint Strike Fighter F-35C (CV) variant is conducting a hover transition and vertical landing on the surface. In May 2012, the UK government, in association with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance engaged the Castolin Eutectic UK subsidiary (formerly Monitor Coatings) to investigate and develop a suitable deck coating that would withstand the aero thermal environment and gas wash exhaust. The challenge was even bigger, as the technology had to be suitable for large scale application on the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Following years of innovation and development, in 2014, we were awarded the prestigious contract to apply the specialist metallic non-skid thermal metal spray (TMS) coating system, combined with a unique sealing system.

The North East of England has a proud history of ship building and support services and is also home to the Castolin Eutectic subsidiary in the UK, formerly known as Monitor Coatings, since 1927. The advanced Castolin Eutectic workshop has long been one of the unsung heroes of technological innovation, continually proving itself as a worthy player in a global arena. Now the workshop continues to pave the way for surface engineering innovation through inward investment and ground-breaking research and development.

The Castolin Eutectic subsidiary in the UK has supplied coating solutions for some of the most demanding applications in the Aerospace industry, like aero-turbines, for over 30 years. In a sector where the performance of critical parts is reliant on the quality of the coatings and their application, we have an unsurpassed record for high quality. Customer approvals have been issued by some of the largest companies in this industry sector and we have also obtained the highly sought after NADCAP approval.

The advanced Castolin Eutectic workshop in Newcastle, UK, provides a similar service to land-based Gas Turbine Manufacturers. Coating of blades, bisques, rings and other components exposed to similar environments as aero-based turbines are also processed.

Failure of aerospace and gas turbine components generally results from high-temperature oxidation, corrosion, erosion, or combinations of these procedures. To overcome these limitations, we employ the latest functional coatings in the aerospace and turbine industries to increase the life of turbine components.

Examples of coatings applied in the Aerospace and IGT Sector:

• Abradable
• Corrosion Resistant
• Thermal Barrier
• Wear Resistant
• Solid Particle Erosion Resistant