Advanced surface coating technology company Hardide Coatings (Oxfordshire, United Kingdom) was recently awarded funding from a U.K. aerospace initiative, designed to further the application of the company’s innovative coating technology to aircraft components.
The U.K. National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP) is a £14.4m program to mature 40 aerospace technologies in the U.K. aerospace supply chain. The company was awarded NATEP funding for two projects commencing September 1, 2018. Each is slated to last 18 months.
The first collaborative project is to develop a grinding and super-finish technology for the Hardide-A coating, which the company says is a proven direct replacement for hard chrome plating. Meanwhile, the second project is to develop the processing of an ultra-low temperature coating that will increase the range of aerospace substrate materials suitable for the company’s coating process.
Both projects will be completed in partnership with other industry specialists.
“These grant awards were made after a rigorous application process, and we will be working closely on the projects with our end-user customers,” says CEO Philip Kirkham. Both projects have the potential to expand significantly Hardide Coatings’ aerospace business, widening the range of aircraft components and substrate materials suitable for our coating technology.”
The company’s production facility in Martinsville, Virginia, USA recently received approval to the new AS 9100 Rev D and ISO 9001:2015 quality management standards. This follows the December 2017 award of AS 9100 Rev D certification to the group’s production site in Bicester, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
Both accreditations were awarded by global certifying body Lloyds Register (London, United Kingdom).
Aerospace customers for the company include Airbus (Toulouse, France), BAE Systems (Farnborough, United Kingdom), and Leonardo (Rome, Italy). Customers in other sectors include companies operating in oil and gas exploration and production, valve and pump manufacturing, and precision engineering industries.
Hardide describes itself as a developer, manufacturer, and applicator of advanced tungsten carbide coatings, used for a wide range of engineering components. The company says its patented technology is unique in that it combines, in one material, a mix of toughness and resistance to abrasion, erosion, and corrosion along with the ability to accurately coat interior surfaces and complex geometries.
This enabling technology is proven to offer significant improvements in component life, particularly when applied to components that operate in very aggressive environments, the company explains. This results in cost savings through reduced downtime and increased operational efficiency.
Source: Hardide Coatings, www.hardide.com.