Thermal Coating for a Safe Landing

Medicoat is a specialist in coatings for medical technology and aircraft landing gear, relying entirely on Siemens control and drive technology.

A small fish delivering to the giants: this could describe Medicoat’s customer relationships. The SME from Mägenwil is a specialist in thermal spraying and supplies world-leading companies in medical technology, aerospace, and energy production. Thanks to its expertise in developing coatings and custom-built equipment for medical technology, Medicoat has extensive know-how in complex coating processes and the equipment required for them. This is why the company has ventured into new waters, applying its existing knowledge to the coating of aircraft landing gear. In doing so, they have implemented the entire control and drive technology of the systems using various Siemens components.

From Implant to Aircraft Landing Gear

A coating gives surfaces specific properties that the base material does not possess. Medicoat relies on thermal spraying, where surfaces in medical technology are permanently coated with titanium and hydroxyapatite. For this purpose, vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) or atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) is used to coat medical implants, making them biocompatible and allowing them to bond with bone.

Just as for implants, it is equally important for aircraft landing gear to withstand daily stresses and to remain wear- and corrosion-resistant over time. Originally, chromium was used here because the metal provides excellent protection against wear and corrosion. However, since highly toxic chromium can develop during the chrome-plating process, Medicoat has been using thermal spraying in this industrial sector since 2001, supplying major aviation corporations.

These systems employ the high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying process, in which landing gear components up to two meters long and weighing up to 150 kg are coated with cermet materials and nickel-chromium in a ceramic layer.

Medicoat custom-built this system according to the specific requirements of an aerospace corporation, in order to coat aircraft landing gear with ceramics using the HVOF process.

Siemens offers an enormous range of products.

Rolf Kuhn, Head of Plant Engineering, Medicoat AG

Fully Automated Coating Process

For the construction of its coating systems, Medicoat relies entirely on Siemens for the control and drive technology, creating a fully integrated automation solution. For the multifunctional tasks of the system—such as pressure and vacuum regulation, spray powder dosing, or container cooling—Medicoat uses various components from the Simatic, Sinamics, Sirius, Sidoor, and Sentron families. "Siemens offers an enormous range of products, providing a high level of reliability for both us and our customers," explains Rolf Kuhn, Head of Plant Engineering at Medicoat, regarding the diversity of Siemens components chosen. Although Medicoat manufactures in Switzerland, it serves an international clientele. Ensuring that issues can be addressed quickly is therefore an important part of customer satisfaction. Thanks to Siemens Digital Industries’ global network, both spare parts and service personnel are available almost everywhere, ready to respond promptly in case of on-site complications.

The control cabinet of Medicoat’s system contains components from the Simatic, Sirius, and Sinamics families.

Integrated Siemens Technologies at Medicoat

At Medicoat, among others, the Simatic S7 CPU 1513F-1 PN and Simatic ET200SP are used, which play a central role in controlling and automating industrial processes due to their robustness and flexibility. For precise motion control, the two drives Sinamics S210 and G120C have been integrated into the system. For system safety, Medicoat relies on the Sidoor door drive and Sirius switching technology, and uses Sentron PAC3200T devices for energy measurement. One of the main components is Simatic WinCC SCADA V8.0 for process monitoring, which allows real-time analysis of control and drive data and visualization on the SIMATIC Industrial Flat Panel 2200. This, combined with the high computing power of the IPC847E industrial PC, enables quick detection and resolution of any issues. Additionally, Medicoat uses the PMQuality software to record production logs for individual components.

Plant Engineering Times Ten

Even though implants and aircraft landing gear do not seem very similar at first glance, Medicoat was able to leverage its existing expertise perfectly for this new specialization. In both fields, it is essential that the coatings remain wear- and corrosion-resistant for decades. Therefore, Medicoat must meticulously document the entire plant engineering process in both areas to trace any potential errors. Additionally, Medicoat collaborates with global corporations in both the medical and aerospace sectors, whose workflows, responsibilities, and expectations differ significantly from those of an SME. “These are two different worlds. While our customers have a different responsible person for each process, our project manager Peter Moser was responsible for everything,” says Rolf Kuhn. These differences did not always make the work easier.

Die thermische Beschichtung erfolgt in der Anlage mittels Roboter, der mit der Simatic CPU via Profinet kontrolliert und überwacht werden kann.

Unlike with implants, the specialization also brought new challenges in terms of size: “Until now, we produced systems for components up to 10 cm; now we’re talking about ten times that size,” explains project manager Peter Moser. As a result, new tools and a larger forklift had to be purchased, and new ladders installed in the warehouse. “We were very happy when the system was delivered, because it freed up space in the hall for new projects,” says Peter Moser. New projects are already planned. By combining complex coating processes with Siemens automation technology, Medicoat is setting new standards. This reference demonstrates the advantages of a fully integrated automation solution from Siemens and shows how companies can strengthen their position internationally.

Technology at a Glance

The coating system for the landing gear was powered by a wide range of Siemens components. Due to the high speed and temperature of the thermal coating process, it was important that the components used were robust, reliable, and modular. The following components were used overall:

Simatic S7 CPU 1513F-1 PN
Simatic ET200SP
Sinamics S210 und G120C
SENTRON Messgeräte PAC3200T
SIMATIC Industrial Flat Panel 2200
WinCC Scada, V8.0
Sidoor Türantrieb
Sirius Schalttechnik
Simatic IPC847E
PM Quality

Medicoat AG

Medicoat, based in Mägenwil, is an innovative company specializing in thermal spraying, with a focus on plasma and HVOF spraying. In the field of plant engineering, Medicoat develops complete coating systems and adapts the necessary components for all process variants. One of its strengths lies in the development of control and regulation technology for complex processes and their visualization.