Expanding What’s Possible with Cold Spray

In 2023, when Sandia National Laboratories approached Able Aerospace they weren’t looking for a standard MRO provider. Sandia needed a partner capable of developing and qualifying a new cold spray solution for a critical component of the Advanced Sources and Detectors (ASD) Scorpius radiography system – a nextgeneration platform supporting nuclear weapons safety and reliability.

The component’s size, geometry, and performance requirements meant existing cold spray processes would not be sufficient. The project required the type of work Able does best – engineering‑led manufacturing, sustained research and development (R&D), and the ability to control and adapt complex processes in‑house.

What followed was an 18-month R&D effort that pushed our capabilities beyond existing processes. Our team modified equipment and facilities to handle the component’s scale and geometry, ran extensive iterative testing to establish process parameters, and developed new tools, fixturing, and measurement techniques for complex surfaces.

Through this work, Able expanded its cold spray capabilities to include stainless steel powder and helium, processed multiple test articles for validation, and ultimately cold sprayed and machined the critical coated surfaces in‑house. The result was two successfully coated and machined components, new internal capabilities, and a stronger cold spray platform for future high‑precision applications.

The success of this effort was also recognized by Sandia National Laboratories.