The coating on an airplane is a defining factor that can make all the difference in the sky, affecting everything from efficiency and safety to speed. It’s prerequisite to use high-quality surface treatment solutions to achieve long-term service capability, ensure safety at high cruise altitudes, and get reliable aircrafts for airline operators. However, keeping up with all the standards and stringent regulations of the aviation sector, and ensuring safety at the same time, without compromising on the quality of the products, proves to be a daunting task. But with Europe-based FerroECOBlast, a global leader in the surface treatment technology landscape, aerospace industry can be rest assured that they are in good hands to solve the most demanding surface treatment problems. The Europe-based FerroECOBlast leverages more than 55 years of tradition of excellence and research to spearhead the surface treatment technology arena with its advanced technologies and machines that upholds safety and quality. The company is constantly pushing the envelope on surface treatment technologies to become the top suppliers of technological solutions in air blasting, shot peening and industrial surface cleaning technologies. “Our products are based on more than half a century of knowledge, testing and constant research that enable us to be at the top when it comes to quality,” says Mojca Andolsek, CEO of FerroECOBlast.

The company delivers complete turn-key solutions that can be implemented in high-output facilities where precision and specific standards are of the utmost importance. All their technologies can be engineered in manual or automatic machines.

Our knowledge, flexibility and innovative spirit guarantees our customers that our machines will help them achieve better results faster with limited or no human intervention, and at the same time also achieve a higher ROI

“Most of our machines are tailor-made—developed and built specifically for each client, matching or exceeding their specifications, giving us an advantage to provide most appropriate solutions to them,” states Andolsek.

FerroECOBlast’s air blasting machines can also blast surfaces with dry ice pellets or dry snow with impressive cleaning results on sensitive materials—providing an environmental friendly alternative to chemical processes by generating zero chemical waste. They are widely used for a variety of processes, from cleaning, deburring, roughening, de-coring, polishing, to paint stripping and more. FerroECOBlast’s most important and proven technology, shot peening guarantees their customers with increased fatigue strength and product lifetime, improved surface conditions, and reduced residual stresses and corrosion risks. The company also excels in developing enamelling and coating solutions that provide long-lasting protection against corrosion. All of their surface treatment machines are also compliant with specific strict standards, including AMS2430, AMS2432, AMS-S-13165 and NADCAP.

“Our knowledge, flexibility and innovative spirit guarantees customers that our machines will help them achieve better results faster with limited or no human intervention, and at the same time also achieve a higher ROI,” explains Andolsek.

A perfect example exemplifying the effectiveness of FerroECOBlast’s solutions is the CORE 4.0 project, funded by the European Union as a joint program. This project is aimed at developing a new type of aluminium closed-deck engine block using High Pressure Die Casting Lost Core (HPDC-LC) technology to replace the usual cast iron blocks in order to reduce emissions of CO2, NOx and PM2.5 from cars. One of the main barriers in producing such blocks was the removal of ceramic mould cores from these blocks. FerroECOBlast participated in this project and made several improvements in the technological process with their machines that successfully removed all traces of the ceramic cores from the blocks in a controlled and automated manner, making the HDPC-LC aluminium blocks a serially-produced reality. The company also developed a robotized dry ice cleaning solution that integrated perfectly into the customer’s production line, saving them time and money.

With many innovative ideas in the pipeline, FerroECOBlast will continue to perform intensive R&D activities and implement new technologies and processes in their machines and focus on developing their global footprint in the surface treatment arena. “Recently, we bought an extraordinary transport—a retired Bombardier CRJ-200 and transported it on a special truck from Ljubljana’s airport to our headquarters,” says Andolsek, “This ultimately enabled us to have our very own testing platform for future endeavours in the aerospace surface treatment sector.”