Rosler - Aero Engine Surface Finishing and Water Treatment

Rösler is the world's leading producer of surface finishing equipment together with related abrasives and water treatment. Our machine build programme includes shot peening, wet blast, air blast, wheel blast, as well as vibratory finishing applications for a variety of aero-engines, aircraft engine components and customer specific special applications.

Our research and development programmes have, in recent years, produced many surface finishing processes now widely used in the world's high tech industries, with aerospace in particular benefiting from them.

Rösler's worldwide centres of excellence are set up to perform process trials on aero engine components. Our services offer ISO-accredited sub-contract finishing services, as well as providing full after sales support that includes service, spares and a comprehensive inventory of abrasives. We hold various aerospace supplier approvals.

AERO-ENGINE SHOT PEENING AND AIR WHEEL BLASTING

Rösler performs shot peening for aero engine and airframe components and structures. This service means that a compression stress is induced into the outer zone of the part, increasing the durability of the part to achieve the prolongation of the maintenance intervals. It also causes a reduction in the part weight by equal stability, and offers constant and reproducible results due to the high level of automation. The technique has a high safety factor, as nozzle manipulation is actuated by robot or CNC. We provide complete blast media preparation according to form and size, and exercise control of all parameters (such as short flow rate and air pressure) with a supervisor.

Our air / wheel blasting service includes cleaning and roughening of the component before painting (thermical coating), blast media preparation and parameter supervision, separation or oversized and undersized particles, and flow rate gauging of every blast media type.

WET BLAST AND WATERJET CLEANING

Wet blasting includes:

• Surface finishing
• Shot peening
• Smoothing of surfaces
• Soft cleaning
• Homogeneous surface pattern
• Dust-free blasting with a water blast media mix
• Blast media contact up to 40% (volume)
• Very fine granulated blast media
• Reduction of blast media embedding in the surface of the component by a protecting water layer

Waterjet cleaning includes:

• Cleaning and removal of coatings
• Thermical coatings (e.g. plasma coating)
• Cleaning of welding lines from residual slag
• Removal of paint
• High pressure pump technology
• Up to 4,000bar / 58,000psi
• Approx 11.7L per minute
• Water circuit in closed loop
• Rösler centrifuge technology
• Ensures a long life of the pump

VIBRATORY FINISHING

Aero engine and airframe finishing on both new and rebuild is a major part of Rösler's involvement in aerospace. Our unique ISF / REM and Keramo processes produce surface finishes on engine blades, rotors and stators that yield significant engine performance improvements in terms of reduced specific fuel consumption, exhaust gas temperature margins and limited metal removal.

Chemically accelerated surface finishing (Isotropic SuperFinish, ISF) achieves surface finishes as low as Ra = 0.02μm (Ra = 0.8μin), Rz = 0.14μm (Rz = 5.5μin).

THERMICAL COATING

Rösler supplies equipment for thermical coating of aero engine components, such as roots of fan blades and cases; we do this utilising combined installation concepts and blasting and coating in co-operation with a coating expert.

Rösler's portfolio includes aerospace specialist companies 'Vapor Blast' and 'Baiker' (solely owned by Rösler). Vapor Blast are famous for their range of wet blast and shot peening equipment; they also specialise in water jet systems. Baiker are responsible for some of the most technically advanced shot blasting and peening systems in the industry, with unmatched levels of technical innovation.