Metal Coatings

POWDER COATING
 Why Powder Coat?
Elimination of VOCs - VOC is short for volatile
organic compounds,
VOCs that escape into the air contribute to air
pollution outdoors and inside our homes. ...
• Elimination of HAPs –Hazardous Air Pollutants.
• Reduction of ESOH Concerns ( Environmental
Safety & Occupational Health)
• Reduction of Hazardous Waste
Why Powder Coat - continued
Single component, solvent free material
life limitations - good
• Process Efficiency
– Quick cure time
– Quick equipment prep and clean-up
 Powder Coating
One of the most
common methods
of finishing metal
surfaces.
Many items used
everyday are
powder coated.
Examples of Powder Coating
Everyday items such
as mailboxes, chairs,
appliances,
automotive parts,
tools, and
construction
materials.
 The Process
A simple process, involving “spray
painting” a fine plastic powder paint onto a
metal surface.
Typically the surface is steel, aluminum or
iron.
Most any surfaces can be coated,
however, they must be able to withstand
the high temperatures of the baking oven.
Before coating the part, the surface must be
cleaned. Often a sand blaster is used for
this purpose. Parts must be totally free of
contaminants that might effect the process
such as grease, rust, oils, etc.
As the powder leaves the gun it is charged
with static electricity. This charge then
attracts the powder to the surface that is
being coated.
After the parts are coated, they are then
baked in an oven at about 400 degrees
Fahrenheit for 10 to 45 minutes depending
on the part. The actual part itself must reach
these temperatures in order for curing to
occur properly.
While in the oven, the powder melts and
flows into a smooth finish. Curing time is Walk in oven
critical, because under curing will cause loss
of adhesion, and over curing will cause the
strength characteristics of the powder to
decrease.
Unlike painting, there are no runs or drips with
powder coating, and due to the static charge,
there is no need for primers.

Additional clear coating and primers can be

added to improve protection and depth.

If a mistake is made before baking, the powder

can simply be blown off with an air nozzle and
reapplied. If the mistake is realized after baking,
the part must be sandblasted or the coating
must be burned off.
 Types of Powders
There are two main
types of powders
used for different
applications.

Both types outperform

most wet paint
finishes and they both
come in many
varieties of colors,
textures, and glosses.
 Most indoor powders
are made of epoxy.
Epoxy is the most
durable powder, but it
will chalk and dull from
the sun’s ultraviolet
rays.
Polyester powders are not as durable, but
since they are unaffected by the sun, they
should be used for most outdoor
applications.
 Equipment Used
Obviously the most important and expensive
item to purchase is the oven.

The oven must be able to heat a part to around

400 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 10 minutes,
sometimes more depending on the part.

The size of the oven depends on the sizes of

parts the consumer wishes to coat. Obviously
the larger the oven, the larger the part that can
be coated.

With a larger oven, several parts can be baked

at one time.
Ovens vary in style
and price.
– A small 6’x 8’x 10’
walk in gas oven is
priced around
$30,000.
– A 100’ oven with a
pass through
conveyer can be as
Small walk in oven
much as $100,000.
There are three main types of ovens;
gas, electric, and infrared. Infrared
ovens work well if designed properly,
however gas and electric tend to be
more dependable. Electric ovens
take longer to heat up, thus delaying
the coating process. Obviously, the
faster the oven heats, the faster the
product will be coated.
 Spray Guns
There are two types of spray guns,

– Corona and a

–Tribomatic spray gun.

 Corona Gun Method
Powder is applied using hand-held gun featuring a
high-voltage electrode at the front end.
Theelectrode creates ions, which impart a charge to the
powder particles exiting the gun, and the charged
particles are attracted to the electrically grounded target part.
Benefits
– Low film thickness possible (1.5 - 5 mils)
Limitations
– Difficult to cover recessed areas and tight corners
due to Faraday Cage Effect
 Tribomatic Gun Method
Powder is applied using hand-held gun designed to impart an
electrostatic charge through friction between powder particles and
gun internal material.
Benefits
– Even layer deposition
– Improved deposition into recesses
– Gun does not produce the Faraday Cage Effect
– Typically consumes 20% less powder than Corona Gun
Limitations
– Coats at half the speed of corona gun
– Electron donor/acceptor tendency between powder and
gun material must be great enough for adequate
charging of the powder
Other equipment needed:
the powder supplies
an air operated vacuum cleaner to
retrieve any overspray
a spray booth.
 Fluidized Bed Method
Parts are pre-heated and
suspended in an
airborne cloud of powder
coating material.
• Benefits:
– Simplicity
– Less waste, lower
cost
• Limitations:
– Only coatings 10-
100 mil are possible
– Coating thickness
control is difficult
 Electrostatic Fluidized Bed
Method
Similar to standard fluidized bed system, but powder
is electrostatically charged and part is grounded so
that particles are attracted to part surface.
• Benefits
– Preheating of part not required
– 4-10 mil thickness of coating is possible
– Small parts coated uniformly, quickly
Limitations
– Inside corners tend to receive low film thickness due to
Faraday Cage Effect
– Part size is limited by container size
Drawbacks to powder coating
The major drawback is the initial investment to
begin the operation.
Powder coating does not have the strength or
hardness characteristics that some other coating
processes such as chrome or zinc have.
Chipping is another main problem with powder
coating. This often results because the part was
not baked long enough or kept at the proper
cure temperature.
 Benefits of Powder Coating

The biggest benefit of powder coating is that

it is environmentally friendly.
– There are no solvents as in paints, and thus no
harmful air pollution. There is absolutely no
hazardous waste created with this process.
Economic
– Overspray can be air vacuumed and reused,
thus reducing the amount of waste produced as
well as saving cost.
 Analysis

As can be seen for certain applications,

powder coating is the most durable
decorative finish available at this time.
A variety of different textures, colors, and
glosses can be used.
The process is fairly simple and the cost is
much less than other processes like
chroming or zinc plating.
Also the initial investment is minimal
compared to other processes.
 Conclusion
With all the benefits of powder
coating, it can be seen why it is such
a widely applied technique.
Obviously, if a person has the
resources and demand for the
procedure, they should think seriously
about investing in the operation.
SUMMARY
A powder coating
material that will allow
us to overcome
previous limitations of
the
powder coating
process resulting in:
• VOC, HAP and
solvent free coating
• reduced labour
hours
• lower costs
 Tin plating
Tin plating is primarily for "functional"
purposes such as providing a level of
protection or corrosion resistance to a
range of
Tin Plating is a lower cost alternative
than some protective coatings. Tin also
has a good level of conductivity
enhancement properties (as opposed to
silver which has higher conductivity) which
may be of benefit to manufacturers
seeking to enhance this property
somewhat without adding too much to the
price.
Tin has good solderability and is therefore
a coating of choice where later soldering
of components is required especially in
the electronic fields. Applications of Tin Plating: Examples include: Low-
Colour & Aesthetics: Tin plating has a 'whitish tech electrical or electronic components such as
grey' hue and is usually applied without the layer electronic connectors or bus bars; commercial cooking
of bright nickel used in decorative coatings - as equipment; parts requiring soldering; other.
such tin has a dull, or matt appearance. Substrates suited to this coating: Tin can be plated
commonly is used on lower value substrates over most metal substrates .
such as mild steel or copper alloys.
 Chrome Plating
is a very popular finish for many decorative
applications, especially for the automotive
and building industries in which there are
many decorative trims and components. It
also has industrial uses where, in conjunction
with heat treated base materials it can provide
a harder finish (hard-chrome).
Chrome plating is popular because it is hard
wearing, bright and easy to clean. The nickel
used in the coating process in conjunction with
chrome provides high corrosion resistance. The
nickel type used also determines the level of
brightness. T
he chrome coating itself is stain resistant and
abrasion resistant which is of appeal for
decorative applications in heavier 'wear and tear' Applications of Chrome
environments. T Plating: Automotive decals,
here are alternative industrial uses for chrome door handles and trims, tap-
plating (i.e. hard-chrome*), sometimes used for ware, architectural fittings,
surface maintenance on large tools or equipment. racks, hubs & wheels, furniture
and furniture trim, and many,
many other items.
 Silver plating
Silver plating is an electrolytic process.
Its properties can be utilised for either
"functional" purposes such as enhanced
electronic application or corrosion
resistance, or, "decorative" purposes.
Silver is commonly applied over
preliminary coatings of copper and
nickel though depending on the
application this may vary.
Benefits of SILVER Plating:
Functional - Enhances electronic and radio
wave conductivity. In a "high purity" form it
is possible to achieve surface silver of
around 99.99% purity.
Applications of Silver Plating:
"Functional" coating examples include high-
tech Electrical or electronic components
such as antennas, bus bars, connectors.
"Decorative" applications commonly include
silverware (teapots, trays, trinkets, etc),
jewellery or hand crafted art pieces.
 Nickel plating
Nickel provides the 'substance' of the coating
as it predominantly provides the hardness and
corrosion resistance to the surface. Though
sometimes used as a 'final finish' it is more
common for nickel to be applied as the
"undercoat" to final finishes such as silver,
gold or chrome. The nickel solution type used
in the finishing process determines the level of
brightness of the finished product. Some
nickel solutions result in a matt or 'satin' finish.
Benefits of Decorative Nickel Plating:
Nickel plating provides the finished product
Applications of Decorative Nickel
with hardness and protection from the
elements and determines the level of Plating: As an "undercoat" nickel is
brightness of the product - in fact it can be used for most decorative
extremely difficult to achieve a bright finish applications. It can also be used as a
without it. final finish if required. A Class's
Colour & Aesthetics: Nickel is a silvery "Restoration" divison has assisted
colour with a "yellow/brown" hue. Nickel as a with restoration of many early model
final finish can sometimes provide a closer vehicle components, traditionally
match to some stainless steel grades - nickel plated.
depending on the level of nickel contained in
the stainless material.
 Electroless Nickel

Electroless Nickel is a chemical plating

process which, unlike electroplating,
does not require electrical current to
deposit. Nickel is deposited to the
surface metal via an 'autocatalytic'
process which deposits the coating in
uniform density to the surface being
plated.
The Electro-less Nickel plating process has
many advantages over 'electrolytic'
processes in an engineering environment.
The coating can be used where a hard,
corrosion resistant finish is required.
Applications of Electroless Nickel
A major advantage of the process is that it is
possible to coat the whole surface of an item Plating:
EVENLY, including internals, unlike Valves, shafts, drilling equipment,
electrolytic processes which have difficulty rollers, dies & moulds, tooling, pumps,
depositing into recessed and internal areas hardware & more. Wherever there is
and can result in excessive build-ups on need to prevent corrosion, reduce
points, corners, etc. wear or improve hardness and
durability.
 Plating grade plastic
Decorative plating on plastic is
achieved by a metallising process
specifically engineered to enable non-
conductive ABS plating grade plastic
to be electroplated.
Why ABS Plastic? ABS is a specially
designed plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene
Styrene) with properties suited to the
metallising process enabling continuous
production of high volume components.
Benefits of Plating on ABS Plastic
Substrates: Moulded ABS plastic Applications of Plating on ABS
components are substantially cheaper to Plastic Substrates: Automotive
manufacture than metal parts. They offer decals and trim, tap- ware, furniture
adequate strength and significant weight trim, bathroom accessories,
reduction is also a benefit in some hardware accessories, some
instances. After plating there is no electrical fittings and many other
apparent difference visually between items.
metal and plastic parts.
Zinc plating
Zinc plating is the most common, low
cost; electroplated coating that is
normally applied to ferrous
components to give corrosion
protection. The coating can be
coloured to give gold; black or olive
drab coatings by post treatment. The
relatively low cost, protective nature
and attractive appearance of zinc
make it a popular coating for nuts,
bolts, washers, metal stampings and
automotive parts, such as interior
components and gas filters. In
addition, zinc serves as an effective Recommended uses for Zinc electroplating:
undercoat for paints when high Zinc plating is used where a clean, smooth,
corrosion performance is required. corrosion resistant surface is required.
Commonly used on nuts, bolts, metal brackets.
What Material Can Be Zinc Plated? etc but it also makes an excellent undercoat for
Near any metal can be zinc plated but powdercoating or paint. Zinc electroplating can
the most common are steel and iron leave recesses on complex shaped
on which it offers sacrificial protection. components without sufficient zinc coating to
provide corrosion protection. Finished Products
can recommend other coatings that may
overcome this effect.
 Hot Dipped Galvanising

Heavy galvanizing is often referred to as

batch, heavy duty or after fabrication
galvanizing.
Light galvanizing is referred to as
continuous, ILG (In-Line Galvanizing) or
zinc electroplated.
The Australian market has a wide variety of
local and imported light galvanized products
readily available. (See previous slide)
Heavy galvanizing is the only galvanize
finish that gives a complete coating of
heavy zinc both externally and internally.
The zinc coating is typically in the range of
85µ m² or 600 gms / m² on 6mm thick steel.
Heavy galvanizing produces the maximum
thickness possible relative to steel
thickness, with long term protection its only
objective.
 ZINCALUME®
steel
Roof sheeting made from
ZINCALUME® steel is
available in a range of profiles.
The zinc/aluminium alloy
coating on ZINCALUME® steel
imparts corrosion resistance
of up to four times the life of
galvanised steel.
Colorbond Steel
Colorbond is the name
given to a special grade
of corrosion resistant high
strength steel that is
coated with zincalume
and painted in a limited
range of colorbond
colours. The special
corrosion resistant base
metal means that any
exposed edges/surfaces
(due to cuts and
scratches) do not cause
premature corrosion
failure.
Zincalume is for Factories: Clients thinking of the
option of using zincalume steel instead of
Colorbond - thinking that there would be good
savings.
Colorbond is approximately $1.40 per square metre
more than zincalume. But over the area of an
average 120 square metre roof, it works out to be
ONLY $168.00! ...And for this small sum, they will
get a far superior product - and with a choice of
colours too!
Zincalume is really the choice for factories which
have roofs measuring many hundreds and
thousands of square metres. And the price savings
of using the cheaper material can be substantial
here.