Grant: Alliance Grants

Resistance to solid particle erosion (SPE) is critical to ensure the reliable, safe, and optimal performance of various aircraft engine components. In this context, the aerospace industry searches for the deposition of new and novel erosion-resistant coatings and the improved fundamental understanding of materials' erosion mechanisms. Even if SPE has been studied to some degree for over 100 years, there remain numerous open questions related to the effect of different environmental conditions and material properties that affect erosion. In response to these challenges, the Functional Coating and Surface Engineering Laboratory (FCSEL) at Polytechnique Montreal (PM), in collaboration with Safran Tech and MDS Coating Technologies (MCT), proposes to perform a fundamental study of the solid particle erosion mechanisms of aerospace materials including metals, composites, and coatings. The project is divided into five interrelated and complementary work packages (WP), namely: WP1 - Development of the erosion testing and other characterization methodologies, WP2 - Erosion mechanisms of metallic materials, WP3 - Erosion mechanisms of organic matrix composites, WP4 - Erosion mechanisms and further developments of a new generation of erosion-resistant coatings, and finally, WP5 - Technology transfer. The main anticipated impact of this project is extending the life and improving the performance of aircraft engine components while enabling an important reduction in maintenance and operation costs and enhancing efficiency and safety. These activities have a strong influence on future green technologies and sustainable development, and they represent an important opportunity for research and for training a new generation of technologists, engineers, and scientists highly important from societal and sustainability points of view. As such, it will contribute to the economic and technological development of the aerospace sector in the Montreal area, in Quebec, and Canada.