Abradable materials for coating critical surfaces

Abradable(s) refers to a material or coating that is designed to wear away or be worn down gradually by contact with another surface, typically in a machine or mechanical system. The purpose of an abradable material is to reduce friction and minimize damage to both surfaces.

Abradable materials are often used in rotating machinery such as gas turbines or jet engines, where they are applied as coatings or inserts in the casing or shroud surrounding the turbine blades. When the blades rotate at high speeds, they come into contact with the casing, and the abradable material wears away slowly, creating a small clearance between the blade tips and the casing. This clearance reduces the amount of rubbing and friction between the blade and casing, which in turn helps to reduce wear, vibration, and noise, and can increase efficiency and performance.

Pioneering abradable coatings

Oerlikon Metco pioneered thermal sprayed gas turbine abradable coatings for the low pressure compressor more than a half century ago. Today, we design and produce abradable coatings for engine manufacturers and for applications such as gas turbine engines and other critical applications such as turbomachinery, turbochargers and steam turbines.

Our composite abradable thermal spray powders are of the highest quality and consistency for long-lasting service. We also have a unique ability to test the abradable coatings we design using our in-house testing rig that closely simulates engine test conditions. Thus, we can prove rub results under varying conditions which helps qualify abradable solutions more rapidly and with higher confidence.