Our plasma surface treatment soars again - this time by treating the wire clamp devices used to secure jet engines. The treatment, which our team pioneered and is also widely known as "super cleaning", has been embraced by engineering design teams at the world's leading commercial aircraft manufacturers.

Designed not to degrade

Our aerospace clients approached us with a critical mission - they were having problems with the rubber on the engine's tube and wire clips continually degrading from stress and high temperatures. The rubber would delaminate away from the metal clips, which created the potential for disaster if left unchecked. The designers needed a solution to permanently adhere the rubber to the metal component, and the bonding needed to withstand the hot and cold temperature zones as well as air pressure changes of a jet in flight.

Our team was quick to cite the benefits of bonding, or "overmolding" through our plasma treatment. Plasma is a reactive treatment process that can prime virtually any surface for adhesion, painting, coating, and printing. The process is rapidly growing in popularity as industries realize the manufacturing benefits of permanently adhering two dissimilar elastomers. We've employed the technique with great success on medical and optical components and even automotive and commercial products.

Virtually indestructible

Our multi-step process super cleans the metal to give a better bond to the substrate. With plasma, we've created a virtually indestructible rubber-to-metal bond - so successful it is now applied to other parts including jet fuel and hydraulic lines. Our aerospace clients have also realized a significant savings in the cost of their manufacturing, service, and maintenance processes.

The advantages of our plasma treatment are clear: better bonding, a longer lifespan and extreme corrosion resistance. And plasma offers another benefit — it is a "green" process that releases no harmful solvents into the environment.

Reach out to our in-house engineers for advice on your bonding challenge. You can also join the conversation of our Tech Talk Bearing Blog to learn more about the latest in custom plastic manufacturing.