COLA · COaxially Laser Assisted cold spray

Aeroengine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) is a critical industry for Europe. The EU has a 47% stake in this market worth €13 billion globally now, and rising to €21 billion by 2020. As airlines now lease engines, manufacturers and their suppliers are responsible for the engine, not only during production, but throughout service. Consequently, maximising utilisation, via cost effective, high quality, high performance repair, is already recognised as crucial, both from a point of view of economics and thus competitiveness, as well as passenger safety.The COLA project will commercialise a new, cost-effective laser-assisted cold-spray technique, for high-quality repair, with key benefits for aerospace MRO over competing processes of welding, thermal spray, laser-DMD and cold spray of:-Improved deposit qualities, of finer microstructural scale with lower porosity content, free of oxidation and cracking, and with lower levels of residual tensile stress.-Higher performance deposits, eg with higher strength and hardness, and reduced corrosion resistance.-Improved cost effectiveness in operation, with reduced running costs and higher rates of deposition.The COLA project will deliver:-An omni-directional, novel spray head-With a ring array of compact diode lasers-Of user-switchable elements providing tailored beam shapes for substrate heating-Coaxially arranged around bespoke, process-optimised, interchangeable powder/gas delivery nozzles-Incorporating on-line QA/process monitoring hardware, connected to copyright control software.This versatile equipment will also find future possible applications in:-Thermal barrier coatings for aeroengine and power generation turbines.-Functional plastics and composites, eg with conducting metallic tracks.-New wear resistant coatings for automotive and powergen applications.-Corrosion resistant coatings, eg titanium.-Ceramic-based coatings for heat, oxidation or wear resistance, and electrical insula