The future of aerospace: Oerlikon shows innovative technologies at Paris Air Show

Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland – 15 June 2023 – Sustainability and global connectivity are two major trends that will be in focus at this year’s Paris Air Show from June 19-25, 2023, at Le Bourget Airport. At the show, Oerlikon will present innovative surface solutions, new materials and cutting-edge additive manufacturing technologies that are crucial in helping the aerospace industry embrace these trends.

As a technology partner, Oerlikon supports leading industrial companies in the aerospace and space sector to achieve their ambitious goals. One of these goals is sustainability, and to reduce CO2 emissions during flight operations, Oerlikon uses abrasion-resistant coatings for core components in aircraft engines. These coatings increase safety by significantly reducing abrasion, resulting in slower wear. At the same time, they help reduce fuel consumption and thus CO2 emissions, by reducing the friction of moving parts and improving the efficiency of aero engines. The added advantage that Oerlikon offers its customers is the ability to test all abrasion-resistant and heat-resistant coatings in the company’s own laboratories, where their use in engines is precisely simulated. Various components using Oerlikon innovative materials and coating technologies will be on display at the booth.

“The long-term contract we recently signed with ITP Aero, one of the leading manufacturers of aircraft engines and components, demonstrates our reliability as an innovative technology partner for the aerospace industry in the field of materials and coating solutions. The industry’s high level of confidence in our expertise is also reflected in the contract we are signing during the Paris Air Show with the engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines for the joint development of material inserts and coatings for aero engines,” says Prof. Michael Suess, Executive Chairman of Oerlikon.

For both engine manufacturers and aircraft producers, it is not only the material properties of coatings that are important, but also the production process. Continuously digitally networked coating machines improve productivity through higher capacity utilization and faster error correction. In addition, real-time analysis of centrally recorded data from several coating plants increases the quality through traceability of individual production steps. This year, for the first time, experts from Oerlikon will give live demonstrations of Metco’s IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things) solution, which enables end-to-end data networking of Oerlikon coating systems.

Additive manufacturing is another key technology for the future of aerospace. By fusing special metal powder alloys, complex, high-strength and at the same time very lightweight parts can be produced in layer-by-layer construction. Airbus uses Oerlikon’s knowledge and technical capabilities for the serial production of filigree antenna systems for its communication satellites. As crucial components in orbit, these take on the task of receiving and transmitting data signals to the latest communication standards. A sample of an antenna cluster is on display at the booth, along with several additively manufactured parts for the aerospace industry.

The Oerlikon booth (number E157) is in Hall 2B and our experts will be available for questions and discussions throughout the show.

Source : Words for Industry