AEROSPACE COATINGS
High-Performance Protective Coatings For Aerospace Innovation
PROTECTING THE NEXT FRONTIER
From ancient viking explorers to Columbus’s search for a new trade route to Asia and the United States’ manifest destiny, humans have always sought to explore the unknown. At the beginning of the 20th century, mankind created its most powerful exploratory tool yet: the airplane. Since the Wright brothers first flew in 1903, we’ve been captivated by flight, and went from first leaving the ground to landing on the surface of the moon in only 65 years. Today, the aerospace industry is among the largest manufacturing industries worldwide, realizing marvelous feats of engineering that would be nothing short of magic to people only a little more than a century ago.
Now, with a burgeoning privatized space industry and the rapid growth of air travel, the aerospace industry is bursting with potential and working tirelessly to develop the next generation of air and spacecraft. These new testaments to human ingenuity will operate under more strenuous conditions than ever before, flying higher, farther, longer, and faster, while also being safer, more efficient, and with novel capabilities. Achieving the industry’s ambitious goals requires advanced solutions capable of protecting aircraft while also improving their performance, and polyurea and polyurethane aerospace coatings are two materials technologies that can achieve both objectives simultaneously. For new aerospace vehicles exploring the next frontier across the solar system to previous and current generations of aircraft in need of upgrades or repairs, aerospace coatings are a robust solution for safer and higher perforation aerospace vehicles.
HOW DO AEROSPACE COATINGS BENEFIT
AIR AND SPACECRAFT?
Aerospace vehicles like airplanes, helicopters, drones, and spaceships are far more complex machines than your typical consumer vehicle, and operate under exceedingly strenuous conditions. Extreme weather, low temperatures and pressures, high mechanical stress, punishing radiation, and countless other risk factors threaten catastrophe with only one small engineering mistake or overlooked repair. Moreover, it’s not just the worst case scenario we need to worry about; aerospace vehicles and components can weather and degrade rapidly under their demanding operating conditions to require frequent and costly repairs and causing less efficient air or space travel that can further exacerbate cost concerns.
Aerospace coatings help alleviate the risks of unsafe and financially unsustainable aerospace vehicles, protecting them and their inhabitants from serious accidents and an untimely retirement. They can help resist chemical corrosion, support thermal management, withstand physical impacts, and improve fuel efficiency and aerodynamics. This translates to a longer lifespan, maintenance and operational cost savings, and better performance in almost any environment. So whether you’re the proud owner of a single engine Cessna, responsible for a fleet of airliners, or at the forefront of space innovation, aerospace coatings are an invaluable technology capable of enhancing your aerospace vehicles.
POLYUREA AND
POLYURETHANE
AEROSPACE COATINGS
Aerospace coatings are an umbrella term for the different coating technologies employed in the aerospace industry, and it encompasses vastly different technologies. Some aerospace coatings are developed to address single and highly targeted applications, while others provide a robust solution suitable for disparate aerospace vehicles and components. In the latter case, polyurea and polyurethane coatings stand out as the ultimate protective solution, striking the perfect balance of performance, versatility, and affordability. Polyurea and polyurethane are both strong and flexible, used for everything from bedliner paints to military blast mitigation. Their wide applicability and high rate of adoption is thanks to their capacity to shield against common physical and chemical stressors including forceful impacts, harsh abrasion, chemical corrosion, UV radiation, and water infiltration.
Applied with high-pressure spray equipment, certified professional applicators can coat large surface areas in only minutes to hours, and both materials exhibit a rapid curing time for a faster return to service. Excitingly for the aerospace industry, which is working to reduce its environmental footprint, polyurea and polyurethane are also safer and more sustainable than many alternative coating technologies. They’re made of 100% solids and with no solvents or volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), and can improve aerodynamics to reduce fuel expenditures. They also offer a convenient and highly efficient repair and rehabilitation solution, are compatible with common construction materials like metal, glass, and plastics, and offer myriad other advantages. With their exceptional performance, eco-friendly profile, cost-saving potential, polyurea and polyurethane coatings are an indispensable technology for the aerospace industry.
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FAQ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Aerospace coatings are a type of material technology applied to the exterior of air and spacecraft. They’re used to protect aerospace vehicles from harsh operating conditions and to improve performance, and include materials like polyurea and polyurethane, two high-performance elastomers with exceptional physical properties. Aerospace coatings can also be used to create custom styles and finishes, offering a more functional alternative to traditional paints
Myriad protective coatings are used for aircraft, including polyurea and polyurethane, two premier coating materials used extensively across diverse industries and applications. They’re used to protect aerospace vehicles and their components while simultaneously improving performance, and are installed in everything from airliner cockpits to the exterior of innovative spacecraft.
Aerospace grade coating materials are the subset of protective coatings with the quality and performance to protect and enhance aerospace infrastructure like airplanes and spaceships. Many coating technologies fall below the standards and requirements needed for flight, while others like polyurea and polyurethane have the perfect physical properties to enhance many different aerospace vehicles and components.
The aerospace coatings process resembles the traditional coatings process for disparate applications like truck bedliners or industrial flooring. The surface to be coated, typically known as the substrate, is first thoroughly cleaned and modified to prepare for installation. Aerospace coatings are then applied using high-pressure spray equipment, curing in as little as minutes to have an operationally ready surface.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TYLER GLECKLER
I am a chemist with a specialization in nanotechnology and applied materials chemistry. My work has focused on the characterization of optoelectronic materials, namely including semiconductor nanocrystals.
