Aircraft wheel and brakes

Faster

At least 40% faster total turnaround time on paint stripping.

Cleaner

Fewer failed inspection, less rework, cleaner wheels.

Safer

No dust, no harsh chemicals, no operator risks.

Flexible

Cleaning, degreasing, paint stripping - all in the same machine

Every wheel and brake overhaul runs through the same bottleneck. The component arrives carrying oils, grease, brake dust, and carbon. Before it can be de-painted for deeper non-destructive testing (NDT), it needs to be etched, cleaned, dried, and blasted. Then it moves on.

Each of those stages takes time. On a fixed-price contract, none of them add value. They are pure cost.

Vapormatt has supplied wheel and brake shops with wet blasting equipment since 1978. Our biggest customer base spans some of the world's largest air forces, where aircraft turnaround is an operational imperative, not a commercial preference.

Smoke from an aircraft tire whilst landing

Landed aircraft with wheels / undercarriage deployed

Why the multi-stage approach costs more than most shops measure

Most wheel shops run cleaning and paint stripping as separate operations. The degreasing stage removes oils, grease, brake dust and carbon. The blast stage removes paint ahead of NDT. Where OEM maintenance manuals specify chemical pre-treatment, that sits between them. Each stage is necessary. The problem is the sequence.

The process flow that results typically looks like this: degrease, dry, mask, blast, blow-down, continue processing. Five steps, each with its own handling time and its own opportunity for the wheel to sit between operations.

Dry plastic media blasting also introduces a further problem. During the blast cycle, paint particles, broken media and brake dust residue become airborne. Where chromate or epoxy primers are present, that dust can contain carcinogens. Extraction infrastructure is required. Filters need maintenance.

Chemical stripping, where manuals require it, remains the correct process. The issue is that it is sometimes applied beyond mandate, and the chemical disposal obligation it generates grows as environmental regulation tighten.

Learn more about wet blasting vs. other finishing processes

Watch the PumaXL manual wet blasting machine prepare an aircraft wheel for NDT

Faster, cleaner, safer: one process for wheels and brakes

Wet blasting suspends plastic media in a slurry of hot water, mild detergent and. With compressed air as a key variable, low pressure blasting removes oils, grease, brake dust, carbon deposits and heat scale without disturbing the paint. By increasing air pressure, wet blasting strips paint and degrease simultaneously, in a single pass, with no pre-clean stage, no drying stage, and no airborne dust.

The plastic media used conforms to MIL-DTL-85891, the same engineered media specification referenced in MIL-STD-1504D for organic coating removal from military aircraft components.

Faster: A large European MRO organisation was processing A350 inner wheel halves using chemical pre-treatment followed by dry blasting, taking 120 minutes per wheel. Running the Vapormatt Puma XL in WASP configuration, following Safran SPM 32-09-01 in full, the same wheel was stripped in 58 minutes with no chemical pre-treatment and no substrate damage, confirmed by continuity reading. A 52% cycle time reduction, on a documented customer trial.

Cleaner: The flow of abrasive, created by adding water, increases overall coverage with the whole wheel being processed more thoroughly. The wheel leaves the machine ready for eddy current testing, dye penetrant inspection, or direct repainting, without further preparation.

Safer: No airborne dust. No solvents. No harsh chemicals. Compressed air demand is substantially lower than an equivalent dry blast operation. Chemical disposal costs are removed for the degreasing stage entirely. As health and safety regulation around abrasive blasting continues to tighten, shops running wet blasting carry a structurally lower compliance burden.

The process Vapormatt developed for this application is called WASP: Water Assisted Stripping Process. Fast, contained, and designed to sting the time out of your overhaul cycle.

Discover more about the health and safety benefits of wet blasting

Wet blasting applications across the wheel and brake overhaul cycle

The same process covers every surface preparation requirement from routine cleaning through to full de-paint, across both wheels and brake assemblies.

Wheel hubs, inner and outer halves, up to 30 inches in diameter
Brake assemblies: torque tubes, stator rings, pressure plates, pistons, carbon and steel brake discs
Removal of oils, grease, brake dust, heat scale, carbon deposits and multi-layer paint in a single operation
Anodised and Alodine substrates protected throughout; verified undamaged
Surface preparation for eddy current testing, dye penetrant inspection, and other NDT methods
Surface condition ready for repainting and primer adhesion without further treatment

Vapormatt machines for this application include the Puma and Puma XL for manual and mid-volume operations, and the Cougar+ for fully automatic high-throughput wheel shops.

Learn more about the Puma, Puma XL, and Cougar+

Why Vapormatt

Wet blasting equipment for wheel and brake MRO has been a core part of Vapormatt's business since 1978. The process has been validated in some of the most demanding operating environments in aviation: military wheel shops where the machine runs every day, on every aircraft type, to a documented specification, with no tolerance for inconsistency.

Send us a wheel, specify the OEM maintenance manual or process specification you work to, and we return documented results covering cycle time, surface condition, and substrate integrity before any purchase commitment.

The bottom line

Cleaning and paint stripping are necessary steps in the overhaul cycle. They are not value-adding ones. The time, compliance overhead, and process variability that the multi-stage conventional approach introduces sit entirely with your operation. Consolidating those stages into a single wet blasting process removes that cost, and does it consistently, regardless of who is operating the machine.

The shops that invest in that consolidation now will be better placed as regulation tightens and fixed-price contract margins come under further pressure.

Contact us

The shops investing in faster, safer and cleaner technologies today are the profitable ones of tomorrow.

Talk to a wet blasting expert

Wet blasting machines for aircraft wheel cleaning and stripping

Automatic machines

Cougar+ automatic wet blasting machine

Robust and highly configurable with 32 options. Built for long production runs across demanding applications, from aerospace peening and cleaning to extrusion die maintenance. More details

Manual machines

Puma XL manual wet blasting machine

Built for large or heavy components, on a 1.10m (43") swing-out turntable rated to 250kg (551lb), with every feature included. More details

FAQs

Does wet blasting remove the need for a separate degreasing stage before paint stripping?

Yes. Wet blasting combines hot water, mild detergent and plastic media, so oils, grease, brake dust and carbon are removed concurrently with paint in a single pass. The pre-clean and drying stages that dry blasting requires before the blast cycle are eliminated, along with the handling time between them.

Will the process damage the anodised or Alodine layer on aluminium wheels?

No. Plastic media at controlled pressure removes paint without attacking the substrate beneath it. In our documented customer trial following Safran SPM 32-09-01, the anodised layer was verified undamaged by continuity reading after full paint removal. The same protection applies to Alodine-treated surfaces.

How does the process handle brake assemblies, not just wheel hubs?

The same machine and process parameters cover the full overhaul scope: torque tubes, stator rings, pressure plates, pistons, and carbon and steel brake discs. The flowing nature of the wet blast slurry reaches internal radii and complex geometry that a hand-held dry blast gun addresses inconsistently.

What are the health and safety implications compared to dry blasting?

Dry blasting generates airborne dust containing paint particles, broken media, and brake dust residue. Where chromate or epoxy primers are present, that dust can contain carcinogens, requiring extraction infrastructure, filter maintenance, and PPE compliance. Wet blasting produces no airborne dust. No solvents or harsh chemicals are used, removing the chemical disposal obligation for the degreasing stage entirely.

How do we validate the process before committing to a machine?

Send us a wheel. We run it through the process at our UK test facility to your OEM specification or process standard, and return documented results before any purchase decision. The trial is the argument. Most shops that run one do not go back to the previous process.

The hidden cost of clean: Aircraft wheel and brake cleaning and paint stripping