Jul 19 2006
Sermatech International recently completed the installation of a new gas-fired diffusion furnace and ancillary equipment to enable the Lincoln, UK facility to produce Sermatech's advanced vapor phase diffusion coatings in the UK. Prior to this installation, advanced vapor phase coatings were only available from Sermatech Maine, USA and Sermatech Korea.
Sermatech's advanced vapor diffusion process is capable of chromizing, aluminizing and platinum aluminizing critical hot section components in aerospace and industrial gas turbine engines to protect them from corrosion and oxidation, extending life and saving operating costs. The advanced vapor phase process is also extremely versatile and can be used to process a variety of part geometries, applying coatings to complex external and internal passages.
To apply vapor diffusion coatings, the substrate or component is placed inside coating pans that are loaded into a retort chamber which is then lowered into a furnace and then heat is applied. At temperature a chemical reaction takes place between the source gases and raw materials (chromium or aluminum). The product of this reaction transforms into a vapor which ultimately deposits on all the part surfaces inside the reactor unless they are masked, and diffuses into the substrate. The new furnace has a state-of-the-art computer-controlled furnace which allows very precise control of temperatures and gas flows (via mass flow meters) to ensure that coating compositions and tolerances exceed customers' specifications. The panel also has a networked computer terminal which fully data logs all furnace cycles for full traceability to NADCAP requirements.
Sermatech International is a recognized leader in coating development, coating applications, and surface engineering technologies, serving major aerospace OEMs and their suppliers for over 40 years. Sermatech serves its customers globally leveraging facilities across the US and in Canada, UK, Germany and Korea. Additionally Sermatech holds a wide range of OEM and aerospace approvals (including AS9100, NADCAP, FAA & EASA) and uses six-sigma and lean techniques to drive continuous improvement in all its operations.
http://www.sermatech.com