Bicester’s Hardide Coatings announces Gardner Aerospace partnership

Hardide Coatings, the Bicester-based advanced surface coating technology company, has announced a new partnership with Gardner Aerospace.

The partnership will see Hardide coating key wing components for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft using its CVD nano-structure tungsten/tungsten carbide coating, which was selected following extensive testing by Airbus.

It will replace the hard chrome plating previously used for these components, which is being phased out due to REACH regulations which ban the production of HCP in UK and the EU from September next year.

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The Hardide-coated components, which are critical to the operation of the flap mechanism, will be used on new-build A320s and as replacement parts for the existing fleet of aircraft as these are maintained. Initial components are expected to be coated in June 2023 with regular monthly volumes thereafter. Hardide Coatings is currently coating similar wing components for the Airbus A330, A380 and A400M aircraft.

Philip Kirkham, CEO of Hardide plc commented: "We are very pleased to have been selected to coat further components for the Airbus single-aisle A320 family high-volume production aircraft, and to replace hard chrome plating (HCP).

"Our coatings are increasingly replacing HCP and thermal spray coatings such as HVOF (high velocity oxy-fuel) on components used in aerospace and other industries. The Hardide coating outperforms these other coatings in its wear, corrosion and fatigue resistance, and offers environmental advantages both in the coating process and its use in service."

All Airbus parts are coated at the company's UK facility in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

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