Industry News
ITSA Annual Membership Meeting Held during FABTECH 2022
The International Thermal Spray Association (ITSA) Annual Membership Meeting was held in person for the first time in two years on November 9, 2022, in Atlanta, Ga., during FABTECH 2022. About 20 members gathered to discuss topics including financials, the 2024 symposium, the SPRAYTIME redesign, and more.
The following attendees gave presentations: Dr. Bala Balachander, principal engineer at Delta Air Lines; Dan Hayden, Hayden Corp.; Richard Bajan, Industriekeramik Hochrhein (IKH) GmbH; Bob Unger, Polymet; Alan Burgess, Spraywerx; and Philip Nodecker, Superior Shot Peening. Each presenter shared valuable industry insights and details about their respective companies. Some highlights included Balachander giving an overview of in-house repairs at Delta; Hayden sharing news about his company’s recent acquisition; Bajan introducing IKH as the newest ITSA member; and Unger providing an overview of Polymet, the longest active ITSA member.
The business meeting took place after the presentations. Members conferred about locations for the 2024 symposium and increasing ITSA membership. During the SPRAYTIME redesign discussion, the layout and contents of the magazine were reviewed, and members were invited to submit future articles. In addition, it was established that 2023 remains the goal for the ITSA website (thermalspray.org) redesign.
ITSA will have its next Annual Membership Meeting in 2023 and a symposium in 2024, with dates and locations to be determined. For updates, visit thermalspray.org.
Oerlikon Invests in New Assembly and Production Site in Switzerland
Oerlikon, Pfäffikon, Switzerland, a global surface technology, polymer processing, and additive manufacturing provider, is planning a new assembly and production site for its surface solutions and equipment businesses. The group’s current locations in Wohlen, Dottikon, and Winterthur, Switzerland, will be merged at the Reichhold Campus in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland.
The site is being codeveloped with HIAG Immobilien Schweiz AG, Basel, Switzerland, and will provide customers with Oerlikon Metco thermal spray solutions, including equipment assembling and production services. The Reichhold Campus location, spread across a total of approximately 14,500 m2 (about 156,000 sq ft) of production and office space, will also serve as a sales and distribution center for the materials product line, house an IT competence center, and offer about 230 employees a workplace. A strong focus will be placed on sustainability and innovative approaches to future-oriented energy, mobility, and utilization concepts.
The application for the building is planned to be submitted in the summer of 2023. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring of 2024, and the location is expected to be ready for moving in from mid-2025 onward. At the current sites, all activities and work will continue as usual. According to the current plan, the move will begin in the summer of 2025 and will take place gradually to ensure the continued processing of all customer orders.
ARM Institute Team Earns Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., Virtual Part Repair Programming for Robotic Thermal Spray Applications Project Team won a Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award (DMTAA) at the 2022 Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) in Tampa, Fla. The annual DMTAA Awards are given to teams comprising government, industry, and academia employees responsible for outstanding projects in manufacturing technology. These projects demonstrate technical accomplishments and provide a responsive world-class manufacturing capability that affordably meets the warfighter’s needs throughout the defense acquisition lifecycle.
The Virtual Part Repair Programming for Robotic Thermal Spray Applications Project Team is managed at the ARM Institute by Chris Adams, senior programs manager, and composed of ARM Institute members, a group from the University of Connecticut (UConn), and Titan Robotics.
This project developed a virtual method for operators to automatically generate a robotic thermal spray path plan over a repair area on a physical part within a thermal spray booth using an immersive interface.
The project team at UConn designed and developed a sensor system for measuring thickness buildup over a part during various thermal spray processes. The sensory measurement is paired with Titan Robotics’ virtual repair programming interface, which allows the operator to highlight (i.e., virtual mask) the repair in the graphical user interface and build up the thermal spray coating to a desired thickness over the selected part area for repair. All work (part localization and repair area selection) performed by the operation takes place in an augmented reality environment through Microsoft HoloLens.
SPEE3D’s SPACE3D Program Successfully Trials AM Rocket Engine in First Hot Fire Test
SPEE3D, a supplier of metal-based additive manufacturing (AM) technology based in Melbourne, Australia, has made progress with its SPACE3D program. The project focuses on using cold spray AM and advanced manufacturing methods to build parts for the space industry. Recently, the company successfully conducted the first hot fire test of a prototype rocket engine at a test site in Darwin, Australia.
The laboratory prototype is the first of a series of rocket engines and components that will be designed, manufactured, and tested over the next 18 months. The prototype was designed to harness the power of SPEE3D’s cold spray metal printing technology with other new manufacturing processes that collectively aim to deliver reusable rocket engines within lead times and costs that are significantly lower compared to using more-traditional technologies.
“SPEE3D’s cold spray technology facilitates new ways to design and manufacture demanding space components potentially more rapidly and at lower cost than incumbent technologies,” said Gary Owen, chief space officer for SPEE3D’s SPACE3D Program. “Our design, manufacturing, and test expertise, once proven by events such as successful rocket engine hot fire tests, will position us well to play an important role in the rapidly expanding space industry.”
Curtiss-Wright Completes Acquisition of Keronite Group
Curtiss-Wright Corp., Davidson, N.C., has acquired Keronite Group Ltd. for $35 million in cash. Keronite is a provider of plasma electrolytic oxidation surface treatment applications offering corrosion protection, wear resistance, thermal protection, and electrical insulation for the defense, commercial aerospace, and industrial vehicle markets. The acquired business will operate within Curtiss-Wright’s Aerospace & Industrial segment.
“The acquisition of Keronite increases the breadth of our surface treatment services portfolio with unique and complementary coatings technologies recognized for their critical performance in severe service environments,” said Lynn M. Bamford, chair and CEO of Curtiss-Wright Corp.
Keronite, which was founded in 2000 and employs nearly 45 people, is based in Cambridge, UK, and maintains operations in Greenwood, Ind.
AIM MRO Acquires Tribologix
AIM MRO Holdings LLC, Miamiville, Ohio, a manufacturer and supply chain manager of highly engineered consumable repair products and materials used in the aerospace aftermarket, has acquired Tribologix, Golden, Colo., a provider of engineered surface coatings solutions that reduce friction and wear in extreme environments where conventional lubricants do not work. Ben Ehrens, CEO and president of Tribologix, will be staying on with AIM MRO as a consultant.
AIM MRO CEO Scott Wandtke stated, “Tribologix’s high-tech, cutting-edge coatings and extensive testing have made it a trusted name in surface engineering for extreme environment applications, where the elimination of friction and wear is a mission-critical factor for nonserviceable mechanical components. We’re excited to add these products to our suite of state-of-the-art offerings.”
Aerobraze OKC Receives USAF Contract for F-16 Regenerative Heat Exchanger Remanufacture
Aerobraze Engineered Technologies Oklahoma City (Aerobraze OKC), Oklahoma City, Okla., a division of Wall Colmonoy that specializes in the remanufacture/overhaul of F-16 Inconel® and aluminum heat exchangers, was awarded a five-year contract with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for the remanufacture of F-16 fighter aircraft regenerative heat exchangers at the Tinker Air Force Base.
“As a major manufacturer and overhauler of heat exchangers for the USAF for nearly 40 years, it is with great pride that we continue to provide support to the United States Air Force,” said Brian Martin, director of business development, Aerobraze U.S. “This new award demonstrates our ongoing commitment to increasing efficiency and cost savings for our customers through extending the life of critical components for the aerospace industry.”