During the Paris Air Show, thermal processing specialist Bodycote announced the signing of a 10-year renewal contract with Rolls-Royce to provide thermal processing services in the UK. Bodycote’s core business is to provide services that improve the properties of metals and alloys, making them stronger and safer. In the new contract, Bodycote will provide Rolls-Royce with heat treatment, hot isostatic pressing, thermal spray coatings and metal joining, including brazing and electron beam welding. The agreement also provides the framework for Rolls-Royce and Bodycote to extend their partnership in other parts of the world, including North America and Asia. In addition, Bodycote announced it has developed an advanced cooling control process that optimizes the heat treatment of high-strength titanium components used in the aviation industry. This treatment will help aerospace suppliers’ ability to use titanium alloys to build stronger and more advanced structural and landing gear components. Bodycote is also the first company in the western United States, and one of only two commercially approved sources worldwide, whose cooling process has earned BASCA approval from The Boeing Company. BASCA, an acronym of Beta Anneal Slow Cool Age, is a heat treatment process used to strengthen components manufactured from the titanium alloy, Ti 5-5-5-3. A high tensile strength alloy, Ti 5-5-5-3 offers fatigue and fracture toughness in aircraft structural applications requiring superior mechanical properties. But, many aircraft machining suppliers have not been able to use this alloy before because they did not have access to an appropriate heat treating process. Bodycote’s new process closely controls the thermal profile of the titanium part during cooling, which optimizes the mechanical properties of the alloy. This results in a stronger, safer product, according to Bodycote.