SURFTec industrial R&D group

Tapping into a multidisciplinary team of NRC experts, members will benefit from:

• De-risked, innovative and impactful solutions through pre-competitive projects
• High return on investment from their cash contributions
• Networking opportunities with peers from across the entire value chain
• Insights into the latest thermal spray technologies
• Access to the NRC's and its academic collaborators' background intellectual property (IP) and arising IP derived from pre-competitive projects
• Opportunities to validate their solutions against comparable or benchmark products in an unbiased environment using cutting-edge technologies and best-in-class expertise
• R&D projects defined through active consultation with participants
• A competitive edge in their field
• The ability to launch projects that advance IP for specific applications and/or explore particular needs to transform ideas into marketable products

• Thermal/Environmental Barrier Coatings (T/EBCs): pushing the limits of high temperature technology readiness level (TRL) and testing new or alternative materials and manufacturing processes
• Protective inner-diameter High-Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF)/High-Velocity Air Fuel (HVAF) carbide coating on steel and light-weight aluminum parts for the replacement of hexavalent-chromium-based coatings
• Solid-state repair of metallic components in hard-to-reach areas
• Artificial intelligence-enabled methodologies for robust aeroacoustics diagnostics and continuous monitoring in plasma spray manufacturing
• Feedstock powder waste reduction in thermal spraying: defining strategies for powder recovery and reuse
• The tungsten carbide challenge: a benchmarking study of alternatives

The industrial participants span the entire value chain, from equipment and feedstock suppliers to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), maintenance organizations, applicators and end users in the aerospace, industrial gas turbine, automotive, energy, mining, and oil and gas industries.

Industry participants

• Advanced Ceramic Coatings, LLC
• Arzell, Inc.
• Baker-Hughes – Nuovo Pignone Tec
• CASL Surface Technologies / Kymera International
• Cincinnati Thermal Spray, Inc.
• Fisher Barton
• Flame Spray SpA
• North American Höganäs High Alloys, LLC.
• ITP Aero
• Liburdi Turbine Services, Inc.
• Linde Advanced Material Technologies
• Northwest Mettech Corp.
• Oerlikon Metco
• Polycontrols Technologies Inc.
• Pratt & Whitney Corp.
• Rem-Tech Industries Inc.
• SprayWerx Technologies Inc.
• Tecnar Automation Ltée
• Treibacher Industrie AG
• Vac Aero International Inc.

Academic collaborators

• Centre technologique en aérospatiale (CTA)
• École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)
• McGill University

Major partners

• Canadian Space Agency
• Consortium de recherche et d'innovation en transformation métallique (CRITM)

• R&D projects are proposed and discussed with the industry participants
• R&D projects are conducted by the NRC and its research collaborators
• R&D results are presented in biannual meetings
• Industry participants have access to all project results and a license to use the intellectual property developed within the projects
• Intellectual property developed within the R&D group is protected and managed by the NRC to maximize competitive advantage for industry participants