Aerospace Special Process

Processing but with difference

 Special Process Commodity
• Heat Treatment
Tempering, Hardening, Oil Quenching, Normalizing
Vacuum Heat Treatment
Stress Relieving
• Surface Enhancement & Cleaning
Shot Peening
Vacuum Blasting
• Non Destructive Testing
Florescent Particle Inspection
Magnetic Particle Inspection
Material Evaluation
• Chemical Processing
Soft Metal Processing
Hard Metal Processing
Painting
Part Marking
 Heat Treatment
Heat treatment involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to extreme
temperatures with or without an inert atmosphere, to achieve a desired result such as
hardening or softening of a material. Heat treatment techniques includes precipitation
hardening, normalizing, stress relieving, tempering and Oil quenching.
 Non Destructive Testing

Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection (FPI) is a type of dye penetrant inspection in which a

fluorescent dye is applied to the surface of a non-porous material in order to detect
surface defects like flaws / cracks / porosity.
• Dye penetrant inspection (DPI), also called liquid penetrant inspection (LPI) or
penetrant testing (PT), is a widely applied and low-cost inspection method used to
locate surface-breaking defects in all non-porous materials (metals, plastics, or
ceramics).
• A liquid with high surface wetting characteristics is applied to the surface of the part
and dwell time to penetrate into surface breaking defects. The excess penetrant is
drained from the surface of the part.
• A dry powder developer is applied to pull the trapped penetrant out the defective
area and spread it on the surface where it is visualized.
• Visual Inspection under ultraviolet light is the final step in the process. The penetrant
used is often loaded with a fluorescent dye and the inspection is done under ultra
violet light to increase the test sensitivity.
 Non Destructive Testing

Step-1-Penetrant Application

Step-2-Developer Application

Step-3-Inspection
 Non Destructive Testing

• The part is magnetized, finely milled iron particles coated with a dye pigment are
then applied to the specimen. These particles are attracted to magnetic flux leakage
fields and will cluster to form an indication directly over the discontinuity. This
indication can be visually detected under proper lighting conditions. Inspection shall
be performed in Single Phase Half Wave or Three Phase Full Wave machines.
 Non Destructive Testing
Material Evaluation-Hardness Testing
Hardness:
Hardness is the measure of how resistant solid matter is to various kinds of
permanent shape change when a force is applied. A method for testing the
hardness of metals by determining the depth of penetration of a steel ball or a
diamond sphere-conical indenter. The value read is an arbitrary number
related to the depth of penetration.
 Non Destructive Testing
Material Evaluation-Conductivity Testing
Conductivity Testing: Electrical Conductivity is a measure of how well a material
accommodates the movement of an electric charge. It is the ratio of current density to
the electrical field strength. Conductivity value are often reported as %IACS. IACS is an
acronym for International Annealed Copper Standard or the material that was used to
make traditional copper-wire. Also it is basically used to derive the adherence of the
manufacturing requisites of an aerospace component.
 Surface Enhancement
Shot Peening
Shot peening is a cold working process in which the surface of a part is bombarded
with small spherical media called shot. Each piece of shot striking the material acts as
a tiny peening hammer. Shot peening is a process used to produce a compressive
residual stress layer and modify mechanical properties of metals to enhance resistance
towards fatigue and stress corrosion.

6 Axis Robotic Shot Peening Machine

 Surface Cleaning
Vacuum Blasting
It is commonly used for cleaning and preparing parts Anodizing, Plating, Painting. This
process shall provide a clean, uniform surface finish that is suited to subsequent
protective treatment operations and can be performed with various media as
specified.
Glass bead cleaning: Glass bead cleaning, being lighter than steel shot, are used for
low to medium peening operations. Glass beads are spheres of uniform size and
hardness formulated of chemically inert soda-lime glass. The impact of the beads
removes foreign substances from the base surface without contamination and
dimensional change.
Grit Blasting: Aluminum oxide grit powder has a wide variety of applications, from
cleaning engine heads, valves, pistons and turbine blades in the aircraft industry to
lettering in monument and marker inscriptions.
 Chemical Processing
Anodizing
Anodizing the part to be treated forms the Anode electrode of an electrical circuit. It
increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and provides better adhesive
bonding layer for subsequent operations such as painting.
Types and Class of Anodizing as specified in MIL-A-8625
Type I : Chromic Acid Anodizing, conventional coatings produced form chromic acid bath
Type IB : Chromic Acid low voltage process
Type IC : Non Chromic Acid Anodizing, for use as a non chromate for use as an alternative of Type I & IB
Type II : Sulfuric Acid Anodizing, conventional coatings produced from sulfuric acid bath
Type IIB : Thin Sulfuric Acid Anodizing for use as a non chromate for use as an alternative of Type I & IB
Type III : Hard Anodic Coatings

Class I : Non Dyed Coating

Class II : Dyed Coating
 Chemical Processing
Chromic Acid Anodizing
A method of pre-treating articles of aluminum or aluminum alloy to form an
environmentally stable adhesive receptive oxide layer. Chromic Acid Anodize is
the rapid controlled oxidation of the surface of aluminum.
The anodized aluminum layer is grown by passing a direct current through an
electrolytic solution, with the aluminum object serving as the anode (the positive
electrode). The current releases hydrogen at the cathode (the negative electrode) and
oxygen at the surface of the aluminum anode, creating a build-up of aluminum oxide.

1 meter - Automated Chromic Acid Anodizing Processing Line - 5 meter

 Chemical Processing
Boric Acid Sulfuric Acid Anodizing
The Boeing Company developed this process as a chromic acid anodizing replacement
for non-critical fatigue parts. Known as BAC 5632, its acceptance grew as
environmental laws increasingly favored the use of chrome-free chemistries. Paint
adhesion is equal or superior to chromic acid, and the process is more energy-efficient
than chrome-based processes.

1 meter - Automated Boric Acid Sulfuric Acid Anodizing Processing Line - 3 meter
•SAA, or Sulfuric Acid Anodize: is the most frequently used aluminum anodizing
process. It produces coatings up to 1 mil for conventional coatings and up to 4
mils for hard coatings. Conventional coatings are primarily decorative or
protective; hard coat anodizing are processed at higher voltages and current
densities and are mostly used for engineering applications.

•Hard coat: Type III, HCA, or hard coat anodizing, generates the highest wear
performance – generally Rockwell 60-70C, the smoothest surface, and the
darkest coloring. Electrical insulation rating for hard coat anodizing is 800 V/mil.
This lower-temperature process is the most versatile of anodizing technologies.

Black anodizing The new characteristics of an anodized metal are

increased strength and corrosion resistance, a thicker and smoother
protector then regular paint or metal plating. However, the process does
make the metal more brittle, so extreme temperatures can cause damage.
Depending on the style of anodizing and the type of metal, dying the product
is possible. The basic black dye is made from an inorganic substance, a
chemical mixture called ferric ammonium oxalate
 Electroplating
Electroplating is primarily used for depositing a layer of material to impart a
desired property (e.g., abrasion and wear resistance, corrosion protection,
lubricity, aesthetic qualities, etc.) to a surface.
The part to be plated is the cathode of the circuit. In one technique, the anode
is made of the metal to be plated on the part. Both components are immersed
in a solution called an electrolyte containing one or more dissolved metal salts
as well as other ions that permit the flow of electricity
Decorative
Plating Chrome
plating Copper
plating Nickel
plating

Functional Plating
Electroless nickel plating
Hard chrome plating
Cadmium plating
Zinc nickel plating
Silver plating (Decorative too)
Passivation: Passivation is “the removal of exogenous iron or
iron compounds from the surface of a stainless steel by a
treatment with an acid solution that will remove the surface
contamination
The chemical treatment of stainless steel with a mild oxidant,
such as a nitric acid solution, for the purpose of enhancing
the spontaneous formation of the protective passive film."
Alochrom: Chromate coatings are processes of chemical
conversion and are formed by the reaction of water solutions of
chromic acid or chromium salts. The coatings can be applied to
aluminum, zinc, cadmium, and magnesium. The coatings
usually have good atmospheric corrosion resistance.

Titanium Etching: Acid cleaning of titanium surfaces to

remove deposits is sometimes necessary and is carried out
using ‘Nitric acid/Hydrofluoric acid solution’
 Painting:
Type of process: Primer and Topcoat Applications
Primer is a paint that has less pigment and more bonding elements to
help the next layer of paint
adhere to the miniature and resist rubbing off or
chipping. Primer increases the adhesion of the topcoat or pain to the
material.
The Topcoat is the final coating layer on a component. It usually provides the
color or finish desired
Part marking-Ink:
Inkjet part marking is a type of direct product marking (DPM) technologies.
inkjet part marking provides better resistant for long duration. This marking
produces the best quality marks possible on most building products.
This part marking technique is safe to use as the process does not penetrate
on the surface of the material. Hence there is no chance of damage of the
material.
Ink jet printers project electrically charged droplets of ink onto the surface.
Overcoat part marking /Lacquer coating:
Clear Coat - A clear spray (or brush on) that helps seal
the miniature, protecting the paint from rubbing off or chipping.
Comes in Gloss, Satin, Semi-Gloss, Matte, and Flat.
Overcoat is done on ink marking / barcoding for high
temperature / Fluid resistant property
 Electrochemical etching:
Electrochemical etch marking is permanent part marking on metals in a few
seconds by application of an electric current with a conductive solution
through a non–conductive stencil
Generally, this marking is carried out even before NDT operations
Thank you