Wheelabrator Group - Peening and Surface Engineering Solutions

Wheelabrator Group is the world leader in the design and manufacture of surface treatment equipment. We provide automated and manual air blast, wheel blast, wet blast and vibratory finishing equipment, to prepare, clean, peen and polish components. Additionally, we also provide an expert sub-contract service for processing your components.

Aircraft engines and structures often require blasting, shot peening and mass finishing to strengthen the material, prepare the surface for further processes like plasma spray, reduce surface profiles and increase the operating life of critical components. Through our unique understanding of the precision and repeatability required, Wheelabrator Group treatment of aerospace and aircraft parts is a critical step in the manufacturing process.

Conformance to audits and specifications such as NADCAP, SAE, MIL, AMS are closely monitored and applied during the design of Wheelabrator Group equipment. Additionally, we provide the option of simple process controls in our peening systems as an alternative to equipment with more complex controls.

AIR BLAST, WHEEL BLAST, WET BLAST AND VIBRATORY FINISHING

For aerospace applications, we provide the following equipment and sub-contract services:

Fuselage / outer skins:

• Chemical-free selective paint stripping
• Rib peen forming, distortion correction and saturation peening

Wings:

• Peening stringers and spars
• Preparing surfaces prior to bonding
• Skin peen forming and saturation peening

Landing gear / components:

• Chemical-free depainting
• Surface etching and texturing
• Shot peening for fatigue life improvement and restoration
• Blast cleaning

Engines:

• Chemical-free depainting
• Removal of plasma coating
• Surface preparation
• Shot peening
• Blast cleaning

SHOT PEENING FOR AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS

Shot peening is used to induce residual compressive stress in the surface of components that are prone to cyclic and repetitive loads, such as landing gears, wing spars, wing ribs, stringers, engine blades, shafts and discs. This process can also reduce stress corrosion cracking.

There are two specialised processes derived from shot peening:

Shot peen forming: the natural effect of the process compresses and extends the superficial layer of the component causing it to bow. This process is used to form skins, access panels, wing flaps, fuselage sections, etc.

Correction of distortion: uses the same technique but in reverse. When a component is distorted due to machining or heat, shot peening is used to compress and stretch the local areas to achieve the required flatness. This is used for ribs, spars and other complex structural metallic parts.

WHEELABRATOR GROUP TECHNOLOGIES

Our technologies, coupled with our global experience, allow the Wheelabrator Group to service a wide range of requirements. Regardless of the size of the part to be processed or your productivity requirements, we will design and construct the appropriate surface engineering solution for your needs. Among other processes, our technologies are used to remove scale, paint, flashing, grease and burrs as well as peen, etch, polish, deburr and profile parts.

Besides aerospace applications, Wheelabrator Group technologies have been used for:

• Autosport: shot peening stub axles
• Automotive: cleaning / peening engines and engine components
• Railway: cleaning railway carriages
• Diecasting: deflashing parts
• Manufacturing: rust and scale removal from structural steel
• Medical: peening medical implants
• Optical: cleaning and polishing spectacle frames
• Mining: peening mining drill bits
• Speciality Metals: imparting surface profiles

Equipment and sub-contract services are regularly provided to most of the key Aerospace OEMs such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, BF Goodrich, General Electric, Messier and Pratt & Whitney.

We hold various aerospace accreditations and supplier approvals.

Our internationally renowned products and services include Abrasive Developments, Clean-Tek, Impact Finishers, Schlick, Sisson Lehmann, Vacu-Blast, Walther Trowal and Wheelabrator.