Plasma Spraying: Leading Edge Technology with Clear Advantages 931065
In the demanding aircraft OEM and repair environment, requirements for success in the area of surface enhancement can be identified as:
1.
The ability to produce consistent, repeatable and the highest quality coatings in the most economical manner.
2.
A high degree of flexibility, providing the deposition of the widest possible range of coatings onto a large variety of substrate configurations and allowing the user to react quickly to diverse and constantly changing requirements.
Plasma spraying with automated equipment meets both of these challenging requirements. It also differs from other thermal spray processes such as conventional and high velocity flame spraying offering significant advantages and benefits for the manufacturer of coatings:
Higher spray rates and deposition efficiency
Process gases are inexpensive and easily obtainable
Gas consumption is lower
Components are heated only minimally during spraying and less cooling is required
The plasma system is based on established technology and is an industrially proven and reliable process
Wide range of spray guns available for many different applications
The process can be integrated into a spray cell offering full movement coverage and manipulation of the components.
The cell can be designed to meet all safety and environmental emission requirements
The plasma spray process is automated whilst remaining operator friendly and precisely controlled within a wide range of parameters thus producing consistent, reproducible coatings of the highest quality. This success is based on thoroughly tried and tested components and hence no start-up problems. Therefore, systems are reliable and cost-effective with minimal down-time and easy to maintain with low repair and maintenance costs.
