Advanced Wear Coating Systems for Landing Gear

Landing Gear components (LG) are protected from in-service wear by application of hard Chromium (Cr). The porosity and columnar structure of the currently utilized galvanic Cr coatings allow corrosive media to penetrate through dramatically decreasing the life span of the component. For the non-line-of-site LG surfaces electrodeposited Cr is being replaced by the HVOF–applied compositions of WC but the line-of-site configurations are still plated with Cr due to the technical limitations of the HVOF process. The objective of this work is to continue investigate and develop wear resistant ID coatings and systems to complement the HVOF application and improve performance of LG via Electro-magnetically enhanced Physical Vapor Deposition (EPVD™) technology. In Phase I, feasibility of the EPVD™ application of Cr was investigated. EPVD™ has proven its capability to produce coatings unavailable in applications by any other coating systems; it demonstrated the advantage of zero environmental compliance burdens to the process. Phase II will pursue advanced development of the prototype coatings and coating systems applicable to IDs of selected LG configurations. The coating systems designs and materials will be optimized and integrated into a prototype to investigate and demonstrate consistent reproducibility of wear resistant coatings applicable to internal surfaces of LG components.