Custom masking solutions ultimately help the aerospace sector save time, money and improve product quality.
Masking may sound like a simple process until it comes to precisely-engineering parts with a high value and an intense job. Aerospace parts need to within intense air pressure, high temperatures, and constant use in many cases.
When it comes to engineered, multi-faceted parts, masking is often an integral process that helps to produce complex coated or plated components used in tough aerospace conditions.
Can It Handle the Heat?
One of the biggest challenges custom masks have to meet is heat used in plasma and thermal coating processes among others.
Aerospace applications can be particularly demanding due to specific high-temperature requirements and strict zero tolerances that masks and coatings must meet. These requirements ensure longevity, quality, and performance over the life of a part.
Custom masking can be designed and cut in nearly every substrate needed and shape desired. This versatility enables our customers to use these masks for a variety of applications including wet paint, powder coating, blasting, scratch and scuff protection, and chemical coating.
Excellence Starts At The Beginning
Many companies too often consider masking as an afterthought when carrying out component design, which can lead to avoidable problems.
Ideally masking requirements should be considered at the beginning of a project during the design or quotation stages, as good masking can save time and money by eliminating labor-intensive processing, improve product quality and reduce the need for rework and scrap.
Responsible custom mask manufacturers like AIM advise continuous consultations with the project managers and engineers from the beginning. We find that it’s essential to continuously improve the masking process with re-evaluations.
Critical aerospace parts require masking that is accountable, 100% effective, and quick to apply and remove. Precisely engineered masking can improve overall lead times and can be designed to combine multiple operations, allowing for greater time and cost savings.
We also take advantage of the latest in CAD printing technology which provides rapid custom prototypes for customers. These samples allow clients to trial fit and ease of application of parts. Custom masks can also be produced in a variety of materials using 3D models, technical drawings or existing templates.
Industry Crossover
Because of AIM’s experience within numerous industries, it frequently finds its masking solutions can crossover to other sectors of manufacturing.
We often find that successful concepts developed for one industry provide valuable insights for applications in other areas. For example, the techniques developed working within the medical industry to mask precision instruments have been applied to solve masking and coating problems within the aerospace industry.
