Bodycote plc entered into a long-term agreement to supply manufacturing services to aerospace manufacturing group Safran, including thermal spray coatings, electron-beam welding, hot-isostatic pressing, and heat treatment. Safran, headquartered in Paris, manufactures aircraft and rocket engines and aerospace components.
The duration and other terms of the agreement were not announced.
Bodycote has 180 operations in 23 countries offering commercial heat-treating and specialty thermal processing services. Its goal is to prolong the working life of critical components and provide in-service protection from factors such as abrasion, temperature, and wear.
The Safran agreement will support the expansion of that group’s civil aerospace programs, including CFM LEAP (aircraft engines), Safran Helicopter Engines, and Safran Landing Systems (landing gear systems.)
Bodycote noted its services for Safran initially will be provided from its locations in France and Belgium.
Recently, Bodycote announced plans to install a new “Mega-HIP” hot-isostatic pressing system at its operation in Sint Niklaas, Belgium, suitable for high-pressure, high-temperature processing of Nadcap-certified aerospace components, in line with rising European demand in that sector.
Hot-isostatic pressing (HIP) combines high temperatures and inert-gas (e.g., argon) atmospheres under very high pressure (up to 30,000 psi) to densify workpieces and/or to bond dissimilar materials.
Heat treating is a controlled process for altering the microstructure of materials, such as metals and alloys.
Thermal spray coatings are among Bodycote’s portfolio of surfacing technologies for prolonging the working life of components and protecting them from environmental factors, such as corrosion and abrasion.
Electron beam welding is a specialty metal joining technique used to create high-integrity joints, with minimal distortion.
