Saturday, April 19, 2014

When In Need Of Best Powder Coating Statesville NC Offers Some Of The Best Options

By Essie Osborn


Powder coating has two meanings, one as a noun and the other one as a verb. As a noun it refers to a certain kind of paint that is applied to surfaces in its free-flowing powder form. On the other hand, as a verb it means the process of using such free-flowing dry coat to paint surfaces. Since it is used in its dry form, it does not require a solvent for keeping binder and filler in form of a suspension. When one needs best powder coating Statesville NC is worth a visit.

The process of applying has three major sub-processes in it, that is, substrate pre-treatment, the application, and lastly curing. Pre-treatment is done to improve bonding of the coat on the substrate. The main technique of pre-treatment is abrasive blasting though there are several other techniques. Various abrasive blasting methods efficiently eliminate oil, welding scales, lubrication greases, soil, old paint, metal oxides and many other kinds of dirt.

Blasting might not suffice in some cases due to the kind of dirt or surface. In such circumstances, chemical pre-treatment provides the best option to settle for. Chemical pre-treatment uses phosphates or chromates in submersion and spray applications. The process involves various stages including etching, de-smutting, degreasing, and then lastly the actual chromating or phosphating. Chromates are however harmful to the environment and are being replaced with better chemicals.

Materials with low-tensile strength like glass, sand, silicon carbide shot, and silicon carbide grit are the ones used for abrasive blasting. Blast medium needs to be brittle, sharp, and of suitable size to avoid destroying substrates and to attain elegant results. Sensitive substrates such as aluminum are pre-treated using plastic abrasive medium to avoid destruction. Generally, metallic abrasives are not encouraged.

Application is a sensitive process that requires use of the right equipment to avoid flaws and make it able to achieve new designs and styles in the final art. The coating is fed into the application equipment and then applied on the substrate through a gun. The gun releases fine sprays of the coat onto the substrate allowing the user to control how much they apply. There are various kinds of guns on the market for various applications hence one can choose one that suits their needs.

Treatment of the surfaces after coat application is the last process. There are many curing processes and crosslinking is one of them. Crosslinking requires the coated substrate to be subjected to a given temperature for a certain time frame. The temperature causes the coating to form a polymer of a high molecular mass after melting and flowing out. After the polymer is attained, the coat exhibits given nice properties according to design. Typical curing temperature is 200 degrees Centigrade for 10 minutes.

Removal of the coat requires usage of chemical compounds like, Methylene chloride and Acetone. Methylene chloride and Acetone are efficient and abandons no paint traces behind. Methylene chloride has lately been identified as a possible human carcinogen and benzyl alcohol is being used in its place. The effectiveness of Benzyl alcohol is high too.

The advantages of powder coat over ordinary paints are many and one of them is that it does not sag or run upon thick application. This property is very valuable in some applications. The product is also environmentally friendly because of absence of VOCs.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment