Surface Coatings Testing: Thermal, Plasma & HVOF Spray Applications
IMR Test Labs operates the world’s preeminent independent laboratories for advanced thermal spray coating evaluation. Located in New York and Singapore, our facilities provide routine and advanced coating metallography examinations, production control testing, R&D support, and forensic failure analysis for major aerospace OEMs and their global supply chains.
In high-stakes industries, precision is safety. The aerospace sector relies heavily on high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF), plasma, and thermal spray coatings to ensure the durability of components subjected to extreme wear, severe corrosion, and high-temperature environments.
World-Class Aerospace Approvals & Credentials Procurement managers and quality engineers can instantly leverage our elite, single-source certifications:
- Pratt & Whitney Code 7i: IMR is the only independent laboratory globally holding this approval for coatings evaluation.
- GE Aviation Central Coatings Lab: Our Singapore facility is the sole non-U.S. lab designated as a GE Central Coatings Laboratory, serving suppliers across Asia and Europe.
- GE Aviation AJ Code: Our laboratories hold formal AJ Code approvals for a comprehensive matrix of proprietary GE coatings.
Specialty Coating Applications We Evaluate
Our laboratories are equipped to analyze and qualify a wide array of high-performance surface engineering treatments:
- Thermal Spray & Plasma Spray Coatings: Evaluating microstructural density, unmelted particles, oxide content, and bond-line contamination.
- HVOF (High-Velocity Oxygen-Fuel) Applications: Analyzing ultra-dense carbide and metallic coatings for exceptional wear resistance.
- Diffusion Coatings: Assessing specialized aluminide and chromide layers utilized for advanced high-temperature oxidation protection.
Full-Lifecycle Testing Services
Our metallurgy and coatings teams support your engineering and production workflows from initial concept to field performance verification:
Production Control & Overflow Testing
Ensure day-to-day processing consistency. We offer high-capacity, rapid-turnaround metallographic evaluations of daily production coupons to keep your supply chain moving.
Research & Development Support
Validate novel coating chemistries, powder variations, or application parameters before moving to full-scale component deployment.
Forensic Failure Analysis
When a coated component suffers premature spallation, delamination, or wear, our forensic engineers perform cross-sectional microstructural interrogations to identify the precise root cause.
Coatings testing of orthopedic and dental implant devices often involve evaluation of porous coatings or structures that are designed to promote bone infiltration. Test samples are subjected to shear loads parallel to the surface plane in order to evaluate their strength and fatigue life properties.
Data from these tests can be used to satisfy regulatory requirements, as well as comparing/evaluating coating types and suppliers.
GE CENTRAL COATINGS LAB
IMR Test Labs – Singapore is now approved by GE Aviation as a Central Coatings Laboratory (CCL). Suppliers who have been approved to add the following coating types and class to their current GT193 may send their round robin samples to IMR Singapore (see the list of coatings below for specifics). More coatings will be added to this list in the future as they get approved by GE Aviation.
Check our GE Central Coatings Lab current accredition for an updated list of coatings.
PWA COATINGS APPROVAL
As a result of our demonstrated high level of expertise with these coatings, IMR Test Labs’ Ithaca location is the first independent lab ever to be awarded Code 7i approval by Pratt & Whitney. This unique approval allows coatings vendors to send their qualification samples to IMR for review.
We offer a Aerospace Coatings and Metallography course that Pratt & Whitney requires for their coatings suppliers in order to evaluate their PWA coatings.
Coatings Testing FAQs
Coatings testing evaluates the performance, adhesion, durability, and composition of coatings applied through thermal, plasma, and HVOF spray methods.
Testing ensures that coatings meet industry standards for wear resistance, corrosion protection, thermal insulation, and adhesion, which are critical in aerospace, automotive, and industrial applications.
Common tests include adhesion testing, hardness testing, porosity analysis, thickness measurement, thermal conductivity, and oxidation resistance.
Coatings testing can analyze coating microstructure, detect cracks, porosity, or contamination.
Aerospace, energy, automotive, medical, and industrial manufacturing sectors rely on caotings testing to verify the performance and longevity of protective coatings.
Testing is conducted according to ASTM, ISO, and SAE standards, depending on the specific application and industry requirements.
RELATED COATING TESTING
Adhesion Testing
Bond Strength Testing
Chemical Analysis
Coating Thickness
Corrosion Testing
Erosion Testing
Failure Analysis
Grain Size
Hardness Testing
Hydrogen Embrittlement
Metallography
Microstructure
Microtrac Particle Size
Oxide Content
Porosity
Powder Analysis
Reverse Bending (RBF)
Tensile Testing
Void Content
Wear Testing
GE COATINGS TESTED BY CCL
F50TF11 CL A (B50TF56 CL A, B50TF57 CL A)
F50TF87 CL A (B50TF195 CL A, A50TF239 CL A)
F50TF23 CL A (B50TF64 CL A)
F50TF117 CL A (B50TF56 CL A, B50TF92 CL A)
F50TF10 CL-A
F50TF10 CL-B
F50TF83 CL-A
F50TF92 CL-A
F50TF92 CL-B
F50TF134 CL-A
F50TF13 CL-A/B50TF72 CL-A
F50TF15 CLA
F50TF18 CLB
F50TF22 CLA
F50TF25 CLA
F50TF45 CLB
F50TF50 CLB
F50TF69 CLB
F50TF71 CLA & CLC
F50TF75 CLB
F50TF102 CLA
F50TF18A
F50TF22B
RELEVANT ACCREDITATIONS
Click here for a complete list of accreditations and certifications for all IMR Test Labs locations.
