40 AEROSPACEMANUFACTURING
As the world’s largest provider of thermal processing and testing services,
the Bodycote Group’s services to aerospace industry involve the treatment and
testing of components for both airframes and engines. Furthermore, all current
commercial and military aircraft programmes benefit from its services, which are
provided both direct to the primes and via their supply chains
Partnering for
vital services
Commercial and military | All current aircraft
programmes benefit from the Bodycote Group’s
services
W
ith facilities in more than 290 locations in 28 EBW equipment, particularly suited to servicing the aerospace
countries and over 60,000 clients worldwide, market. Bodycote Techmeta also manufacturers EBW
Bodycote is the world’s largest provider of thermal machinery so all equipment can be produced dedicated to
processing and testing services, with aerospace accounting for particular requirements and applications.
around 20% of its total revenue. Relied upon to deliver to the Electron beam welding is, of course, a specialist metal joining
highest quality standard and on time, many of the products technique used to create high integrity joints with minimal
treated and tested by the company are for critical applications, distortion. Electron beam welding fully fuses two parts using
such as turbine blades that are vacuum heat treated, hot only parent metal; hence no need for filler metal, and the
isostatically pressed and stress rupture tested for optimum risk of non-fused joints becoming stress raisers is eliminated.
performance. The welding is carried out in a vacuum so that the weld zone
Bodycote boasts a workforce of 11,000 professionally can be considered as ‘vacuum re-cast’. The Metz-Tessy plant
qualified and experienced engineers, chemists, physicists and compliments Bodycote’s existing EBW centres of excellence in
technicians, which enables it to offer a depth of expertise on Skelmersdale, Cambridge, UK and Suffield Connecticut USA.
a par with the larger OEMs. The Group holds all relevant Plasma spray and high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF)
international quality approvals such as AS 9100, ISO 9001 and coatings are available from new capacity at the Knowsley
50 of its thermal processing plants and test laboratories are and Stonehouse (UK) plants and also from the Ambazac
approved by Nadcap. (France) plant. HP/HVOF coatings are designed for use in
Other Bodycote resources of note include the largest arduous applications such as aero-engines, undercarriage
subcontract electron beam welding (EBW) capability in Europe components, actuator shafts, pumps and valves. These coatings
– the company can now offer electron beam welding services can be machined to very high standards of surface finish. The
from its Nadcap-accredited plant in Metz-Tessy, France, near advantage of the process is that it combines very high particle
to Annecy. With over 40 years’ expertise in electron beam impact speeds without the problems associated with higher
welding, Bodycote Techmeta operates an extensive range of temperature processes which can cause distortion and excessive
AM_jul07_p40-41_bodycote.indd 40 29/6/07 11:09:28
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48