Magnetron Sputtering

Restoration of Inner Diameters for Landing Gear Outer Cylinders

Often, the inner diameter of aluminum alloy landing gear outer cylinders can become oversized due to in-service damage/wear or new manufacturing defects. The current hard anodize repair process has a very limited build-up capability, consequently many of these oversized cylinders must be condemned and taken out of service at a significant cost impact. But this is no longer the case. After more than ten years of research and development, ES3 has validated and commercialized a magnetron sputtered repair for aluminum alloy landing gear outer cylinder inner diameter surfaces.


In 2015, ES3 began offering and performing the production repair of landing gear outer cylinders previously deemed unrepairable. Basic characteristics of the ES3 inner diameter repair include:


  • Dimensional restoration up to 30 mils.
  • Similar hardness properties as the original aluminum alloy substrate material.
  • Adhesion/bend tests pass all specification requirements
  • Minimal impact on fatigue properties of aluminum alloy substrate (less than the Type II and Type III anodize fatigue impact)
  • No corrosion impact on sputtered coating or substrate alloy
  • Easily machined/honed to capture surface finish requirements
  • Wear characteristics increased by 200% for the sputtered surface over the original bare surface.
  • Available for aluminum alloys and currently under final testing for titanium alloys.

ES3 operates a state-of-the art 5,000 square foot high bay magnetron sputtering production facility (U.S. Patent No. 9,765,424) within our 120,000 square foot test, repair, and fabrication facility in Clearfield, Utah. Send us your oversized, out-of-service cylinders for repair at a cost considerably less than the purchase price of a replacement asset.

The ES3 magnetron sputtering team and facility offers a proven and cost effective repair of main and nose landing gear outer cylinders manufactured from high strength aluminum alloys previously deemed unrepairable

For more information about ES3’s magnetron sputtering capabilities in general or about ES3’s landing gear outer cylinder restorative services in particular, please contact the ES3 Magnetron Sputtering Facility by phone at 801-926-1150×500 or by email at magsput.info@es3inc.com.

Advancing Aerospace Technologies for More Than 20 Years