Machining protective coatings
Customer name :
NRC - Surftec
Completion date : 2022 à 2024
In brief
The aim of the project is to work on the machining of high-performance protective coatings on the inside diameter of landing gear components to replace electrodeposited hexavalent chromium.
Project summary
Electrolytic chromium plating is commonly used on wear surfaces in many industrial sectors, including aerospace. However, hexavalent chromium is a recognized carcinogen, which also causes a range of medical problems. Canadian and American landing gear manufacturers must comply with the European Commission's REACH directive on exposure limits, which requires them to replace hard chromium with other processes by 2024. Among the replacement technologies, the application of carbides by thermal spraying, or High Velocity Oxy Fuel (HVOF), seems the most promising. It represents an interesting alternative from an environmental point of view, and offers superior mechanical properties to those of hard chromium plating.
Gallery
CTA's role
As part of the project, the CTA's mandate is to develop an internal grinding technology for cylinders, to develop finishing technologies and to develop a non-destructive inspection method for finished cylinders.
Results
- A methodology for internal grinding and honing of an HVOF-coated cylinder was tested and developed.
- The process was developed on a numerical control and compared with an innovative method involving a machining robot.