Aerospace and petrochemical parts last longer with made-in-Ontario coating

Paradigm Shift Technologies Inc. EPVD^® process greener; works better

A patented process developed in Ontario is protecting components in the defence, aerospace, petrochemical, nuclear, and transportation industries from corrosion, wear, and oxidation.

The Paradigm Shift Technologies Inc. EPVD^® process, developed by the company's founder and CEO, Dr. Gennady Yumshtyk, replaces standard electro-chemical plating with a green technology that dramatically improves wear and corrosion resistance.

"Our process improves the performance of components by reducing friction and making them less susceptible to wear, and more heat and corrosion tolerant," says Dr. Yumshtyk. "It can be tailored to each application and even to a single component, so the coatings can be economically and efficiently applied to critical surfaces."

The process turns the coating materials into a gas in a vacuum - the world's first vacuum system that can effectively coat inner surfaces. It can be applied inside cylindrical shapes like gun barrels or the tubing used in petrochemical plants and can also reach the nooks and crannies of the landing gear of an aircraft.

Field tests by the US Navy showed that gun barrels coated with a refractory metal lining using Paradigm Shift's EPVD^® process showed significantly less wear than those coated with traditional, environmentally hazardous, hard chrome plating.

Today, the US Department of Defence is a major contributor to the company's $2 million in annual revenue. According to Dr. Yumshtyk, they are getting a good return on their investment.

"The US Armed Forces spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year replacing gun barrels," says Dr. Yumshtyk. "Our process reduces the number of barrel replacements and improves their performance."

Prognostica^®

Paradigm Shift has a new technology called Prognostica^®, which the company showcased with the help of Ontario's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade at the Farnborough International Air Show in Hampshire, England last July.

Prognostica^® analyzes fatigue of the surface it is coating to predict the lifetime of parts. It is a Chameleon Skin film sensor system; as fatigue increases, the coating changes colour. Unlike other testing methods – which often result in the destruction of the component - Prognostica is non-destructive.

"We are now in the proof stage in development for Prognostica^®," says Dr. Yumshtyk. "This technology is poised to be a game changer in the structural health and performance monitoring industry."