CNC machining and turning of aerospace specific materials is a must for customers who design and purchase parts at the leading edge of performance. Primus Aerospace possesses unique experience and expertise across a variety of exotic alloys & materials to which many companies do not have access. This experience has been gained experientially through a deep history of completing aerospace projects for high performance application as well as maintaining an on-staff engineering team. Primus’s machining team produces products As a result, Primus Aerospace has the necessary experience & capacity to handle unique applications that require expert handling of these exotic alloys.
Handling and Machining Aerospace Exotic Alloys
Materials characterized by high-level resistance to the extremes of heat, cold & corrosive environments as well as long-term wear capacity often fall within the class of exotic alloys. Modern aerospace, defense & space programs require unique characteristics for highly complex components, which in turn requires the use of specialized aerospace alloys. These materials may include, but are not limited to:
Beryllium
- 172 Beryllium Copper
- AMS 4533 Beryllium Copper has excellent cryogenic characteristics, which are especially important for spacecraft and satellite applications
- Ceramics (including Macor, Alumina, Aluminum nitride, Boro nitride, Pyrex, Vycor, Graphite, Mullite, Mycalex, Steatite, Zirconia)
- Cobalt – cobalt-based alloys are often found in turbine components for their wear resistance
- Haynes 230 – a nickel-chromium-tungsten-molybdenum alloy that resists oxidation at high temperatures (up to 2100 F) which is often used in critical aerospace parts where low heat expansion is desired
- Hastelloy – nickel-chromium-iron-molybdenum alloy that has been solid solution strengthened for exceptional stress corrosion resistance and high temperature strength
- Hiperco – iron-cobalt soft magnetic alloy, often used in stator lamination on motors and generators for aerospace APUs (auxiliary power units)
- Inconel
- Invar – Invar is used for aerospace and defense applications when low thermal expansion is critical to component performance; this is common for optical housings for defense applications
- Kovar – Also known as ASTM F15
- Monel – a nickel-copper alloy used in applications demanding excellent corrosion resistance
- Alloy 400
- Alloy K-500
- Alloy R-405
- MP35N – a nickel-cobalt base alloy known by it’s manufacturer as a “super alloy,” originally developed for space craft components for the Space Shuttle
- MP159 – cobalt-nickel-chromium
- Tantalum – a natural metal that is often extracted from tin production, tantalum is often used in aircraft turbine fins due to its high melting point
- Titanium
- Tungsten – particularly good for rotating components or parts found on rotorcraft (helicopters) due to its high density
- 350 Maraging Steel
Quality Assurance for Exotic Alloys
Primus Aerospace’s quality and supply chain functions are skilled in the measurement and assessment of incoming raw materials. Additionally, our in-house quality assurance lab and external testing partners can check:
- Density
- Strength
- Hardness
- Elasticity
- Ductility
- Malleability
- Conductivity
- Thermal expansion
- Toughness vs. Brittleness
In addition to exotic alloys, Primus specializes in aerospace manufacturing with standard aerospace materials, such as:
- Aluminum
- Aluminum 2014
- Aluminum 2404
- Aluminum 5052
- Aluminum 6061
- Aluminum 7050
- Aluminum 7068
- Aluminum 7075
- Steel
- Carbon steel
- Nickel steel
- Stainless Steel
- Molybdenum
- Chrome-molybdenum steel
- Inconel (nickel-chromium-iron alloy)
