Nickel Makes Sense For Manufacturers of Aerospace Components

While it’s probably undeserving of an anniversary card, the manufacturing marriage between aerospace and nickel has proven to be an enduring relationship. In World War I, nickel-aluminum alloys were used to manufacture pistons for aircraft engines, and the relationship between aerospace and nickel took flight.

The relationship gained a stronger hold in the early 1960s when researchers introduced Inconel Alloy 625, a nickel-based superalloy, with high strength properties, protection against corrosion and oxidation and corrosion resistance. It has been incorporated into jet engine parts and exhaust systems ever since and remains an important material.

Beginning at the turn of the 21st century, manufacturers found electroforming components with nickel and nickel alloys could further elevate the aerospace industry. Alpha Metalcraft Group stands at the forefront of the industry and incorporates nickel and nickel alloys in the electroforming process to make abrasion strips and cold/heat shields for the aerospace industry.

Especially for aerospace, the benefits of electroforming are consequential. Electroforming is an electrodeposition process that assembles solid materials in a solution. Parts are built using a mandrel, or the inverse model for the component. The process includes driving individual nickel atoms from a solution one at a time to a metal surface, literally coating it and replicating that surface down to the finest pattern.

While electroforming is similar to additive manufacturing — in both processes, components are developed layer by layer — it allows for greater flexibility in producing the part. Some parts are 6,000 pounds and 17 feet long. No additive manufacturing process can produce a part near those dimensions.

It’s just not the size in which electroforming offers better flexibility. Nickel has a tensile strength of 59.0 megapascals (MPa) or 8560 psi — but can fluctuate depending upon use of additives in the process that can affect the deposition characteristics of the metal, such as grain size and nucleation growth. With chemical adjustments, AMG can also adjust properties such as tensile strength, ductility and surface appearance. While the process starts with the same nickel sulfamate in the solution, the final products are different depending on the customer’s requirement.

Electroforming, which involves principles of chemical, mechanical and industrial engineering, offers unparalleled precision, which is critical to flight performance. Aerospace components can also be quite complex. Many aerospace components are unusual shapes that are nearly impossible to develop in traditional metalworking methods. In addition, electroforming allows for larger production runs compared to additive manufacturing and has far less material waste.

There is one cautionary note for manufacturers of aerospace components. While the nickel supply currently meets demand, that could all change significantly over the next few years.

Demand is expected to triple by 2030, primarily due to the anticipated growth of the electric vehicle market. Nickel plays an important role in battery energy density and performance, enabling longer-range capabilities in EVs. Demand for hypersonic weapons is also expected to escalate rapidly. Many components in those weapons also include nickel-based alloys.

While the relationship between nickel and aerospace components has proved enduring, the link between electroforming and nickel has remained strong as well. As long as the nickel supply remains stable, it is unlikely to change any time soon.