Problem:
Hydraulic rotary actuators are used to activate various moving assemblies such as wing control, surfaces, flaps, etc on advanced military aircraft. Although the rotors and their shafts are made from stainless steel, the design requirements demand even higher hardness to counteract the extremes of friction and wear that are encountered in operation. In addition, the hostile environmental conditions for operation meant that conventional coatings would be swiftly worn away.

Solution:
It was calculated that an extremely thin deposit of the Magnagold coating process would not affect the precision tolerances necessary for the Bendix rotor assemblies. However, it would increase the surface hardness of the steel up to Rc85, thus enabling the rotors and shafts to resist wear and abrasion as much as 20x better than stainless steel.