Coupons and Substrates Machining
- We specialize in manufacturing high-quality test coupons, substrates, specimens, samples, buttons, panels, discs, and strips for thermal spray, cold spray, chemical processing & welding applications in the aviation industry. Our range of materials includes nickel and cobalt-based superalloys, titanium, hardened steel, and single crystals.
Aerospace grade materials we work with:
- René 77
- Inconel 718 i 625
- Haynes 188 i 282
- Hastelloy X
- Ti-6Al-4V
- 300M steel
- Alu 2014-T6, 7050 T7451, 7075-T6511
- 410 stainless steel
- Rene N5
- CMSX 4
- N515
Our experience includes manufacturing the specimens:
IMPROVE QUALITY OF TEST BUTTON AND BOND CAP
Delivering Higher Reliability, Cost Efficiency, and Qualification Success
- Ensure faster coating qualification by providing consistent and high-quality test buttons.
- Enhance coating performance monitoring through repeatable and accurate bond strength measurements.
- Reduce testing frequency and costs while maintaining compliance with reduced sampling procedures.
- Increase qualification success rate thanks to improved test coupon geometry and surface preparation.
- Stabilize reduced testing programs at a high-performance level — proven by statistical process control (see chart).
Please see a visualisation on the graph below.
Test coupons, also called „test buttons” for testing the tensile and bond strength of coatings are our flagship product. We know how many variables there are in testing and we do our best to minimise their impact on test results.
Our proprietary manufacturing process allows us to produce test buttons with tight tolerances down to 0.0004 inch or 0.01 mm TIR:
Flatness of flat surfaces
Parallelism of flat surfaces
Outside diameter
similar surface finish as the part
The results of the fabrication are
TENSILE / BOND STRENGTH OF COATING TEST COUPON / BUTTON
Furthermore, our quality inspection staff check each one of them.
Why use test coupons with tight tolerances?
Thermal Spray facilities, especially in the aerospace industry, often need to verify coating quality through destructive testing, such as tensile / bond strength testing. This is required for three primary reasons:
- To obtain approval for the coating as part of the qualification process,
- To continuously monitor the consistency of the coating,
- To reduce the frequency of testing in accordance with the Reduced Testing / Sampling procedure.
The acceptability of the above activities often depends on a process capability / performance index CPK / PPK calculated with test results in the Statistical Process Control; the more stable the test results, the higher test reductions can be achieved and maintained. There are many factors for variation in test results, but one of them is the quality of test specimens. But with the test buttons we manufacture, you can:
- achieve better test results for coating qualification,
- improve reduced tests and keep them at a high level.