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MIC AND THE GENERAL ENGINEERING INDUSTRY

Metal Improvement (MIC) provides sub-contract metal treatment services which enhance the performance and extend the life of critical components, prevent premature fatigue and corrosion failures and enable component designs to achieve their maximum performance potential.

We pride ourselves on being able to offer a superior, quality assured and cost effective service tailored to our customer’s needs.

Our industries include aerospace, automotive, rail, marine, off road/earth moving equipment, power generation, chemical processing, oil, gas and mining, medical and general engineering.

Our services include Shot peening, Laser peening, Shot peen forming and Engineered Coatings.

Approvals include: FAA AS9100, NADCAP and ISO 9001:2000 and 9001:2008 as appropriate.

MIC has over 60 operating divisions in Europe, Asia, USA and Canada and can provide on-site processing worldwide.

Questions and feedback

If you would like to ask us a question regarding general engineering applications, please use our contact form. Alternatively, view our global locations page to see where we operate.

We would also welcome any feedback.

Material failure modes

Our surface treatments have undergone rigorous laboratory and field testing to ensure reliability in extreme conditions to deal with the following material failure modes:

FATIGUE

The initiation and propagation of cracks can be prevented or controlled by the tailored application of sustainable residual compressive stresses.

GALLING

The adhesion of opposing surfaces when in contact can be minimised by a coating protection and/or changes in material properties in the near surface area.

FRETTING

Fretting damage can lead to fretting fatigue which can be minimised by the protection of the base material through coatings and/or alteration of the mating surface contact points and deep residual compressive stresses.

STRESS CORROSION CRACKING

The removal of surface tensile stresses or reduction below threshold levels can eliminate stress corrosion cracking.

CORROSION

Surfaces can be protected against corrosion by the application of specialist coatings and, where appropriate, the induction of residual compressive stresses.

INTERGRANULAR CORROSION

Shot peening disrupts the grain boundary network at the metal surface, thus removing the pathway for the corrodant to travel, avoiding any intergranular attack.

WEAR

Wear can be reduced by improving friction characteristics and increasing mating hardness.

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MIC and the engineering industry

Engineering and MIC

Areas in which we operate

AEROSPACE:

  • Airframe - wing skins, ribs, spars, stringers, brackets and fasteners.
  • Aero-engine - turbine and compressor blades, blisks, blums, shafts, gears.
  • Undercarriage - steering and actuator systems.
  • General - gaskets and seals.
  • MRO processing - on-site worldwide.

ARCHITECTURAL

Stainless steel street furniture, internal fittings, hand rails, countertops, internal and external cladding, curtain walling, metal and glass decoration, sculptures, monuments, signage, nameplates and general construction.

AUTOMOTIVE (including competitive racing):

  • Transmission - gears, shafts and circlips.
  • Engine - crankshafts, connecting rods, valves, pistons, piston rings, fasteners, cam shafts, cylinder heads and blocks.
  • Suspension - compression, tension and leaf springs and uprights.
  • General - wheels, nuts and gaskets.

CHEMICAL AND FOOD PROCESSING

Storage tanks, pressure vessels, pumps and valves, welded assemblies and structures.

GENERAL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

Gears, machined parts, stamping dies, presses, pumps and valves, bridges and other welded assemblies and fabricated structures.

MARINE

Turbine components, gears, shafts, welded assemblies and structures.

MEDICAL
Prosthetics, stents and similar implanted products requiring biostability, perfect sealing of metal/material against the human body and fatigue prevention.

MILITARY
Gears, springs, pins, shafts, engine and transmission components, welded assemblies and structures.

OFF-ROAD & EARTH MOVING EQUIPMENT
Transmissions, buckets, pins and welded assemblies.

OIL, GAS & PETROCHEMICAL
Drilling equipment - drill collars, stabilizers, drill bits, measurement while drilling (MWD) equipment, storage vessels, pipes, welded assemblies and structures, generator sets, heat exchangers, pumps and valves, surface preparation and christmas trees.

POWER GENERATION
Blades, shafts, heat exchangers, pipes, buckets, welded assemblies and structures.

RAILWAYS
Axle and wheel sets, gears, shafts, pressure vessels, welded assemblies and structures.

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Oil, gas and petrochemical industry and MIC

MIC and the aerospace industry

MIC and the power generation industry

Our services for general engineering industry include:

CONTROLLED SHOT PEENING
Prevents fatigue, stress corrosion cracking, fretting and galling by inducing beneficial residual compressive stresses in all metallic materials.

SHOT PEEN FORMING
Induces beneficial compressive stresses to create curvature and profile from machined or welded structures, similarly it will correct distortion from machined and heat treatment components.

LASER PEENING
Induces residual compressive stresses 5 to 10 times deeper than controlled shot peening with minimal surface disruption.

ENGINEERED COATINGS
Pioneering the development and use of dry film lubricants, wet polymer coatings
as well as bespoke and standard coatings (including licenced products) to protect against corrosion and wear, improve part life and reduce maintenance costs for metals and polymers.

C.A.S.E. (isotropic finishing)
Reduces friction, heat and improves resistance to micro and macro-pitting.

ON-SITE PROCESSING
Skilled operatives with precision made robust site equipment can be mobilised quickly to attend on-site, anywhere in the UK or worldwide.

PEENTEX (architectural finishing)
Creates a decorative textured finish applied by controlled shot peening which enhances surfaces in architectural applications both aesthetically and to resist stress corrosion.

SURFACE TEXTURING
Provides a textured engineered finish to improve the wear and anti-slip properties of metallic tools and components.

PEENFLEX MOULDINGS
Protects tooling and component parts from handling damage.

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MIC and the engineering industry