Liebherr opens building for HVOF surface treatment

With high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying, Liebherr-Aerospace offers a solution to replace the currently used chrome-plating process without jeopardising the quality or safety of aircraft components.

Just over a year after construction of an extension began in Lindenberg (Germany) Liebherr-Aerospace has put the newly added production area into operation. In the new facility is a centre of excellence for coating with a focus on more sustainable surface treatment.

The building features a state-of-the-art heating technology that is already used in existing areas of the company: heat recovery with heat pumps, which are operated with gas instead of refrigerants. A photovoltaic system was installed on the grass-covered roof.

The key task in developing state-of-the-art coating processes, the company says, is to identify and use alternative materials and more environmentally friendly processes – a challenge in aviation, because not all materials meet the high safety standards of the industry. With high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying, Liebherr-Aerospace offers a solution to replace the currently used chrome-plating process without jeopardising the quality or safety of aircraft components. The new extension building is equipped with the latest technology for implementing this coating method in order to increase capacities for the HVOF process. Liebherr is thus not only securing its expertise at the site in Lindenberg but is also able to significantly reduce transport routes within the production process.

Liebherr-Aerospace is already using the HVOF process in series production – not just for the exterior, but also for the interior of the components. Liebherr says it is currently the only company in the aerospace industry to offer this technology.

This investment in the site in Germany creates even more demand for skilled employees. ”We are very aware of our responsibility towards nature and the environment,” explains Martin Wandel, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Liebherr-Aerospace and Transportation SAS. “Our centre of excellence for coatings in Lindenberg takes us another step further in our efforts to establish more environmentally friendly production methods. Simultaneously, we are expanding our skilled workforce needed to continuously pursue our goals.”