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Mastering Mechanical Wear.

The most common use for thermal spray technology is to retard and control wear

While several different wear phenomena such as abrasive wear, adhesive wear, fretting or sliding wear can be acting on the surfaces at once, they have a common result:  Surface material is lost, ultimately causing a functionally significant change in dimension and impaired performance.

Thermal spray coatings combat wear.

Coating solutions are used to alter the hardness and finish characteristics of countless mating surfaces, to minimize the effects of mechanical wear, and extend product life.  Thus, maintenance and operational costs are reduced.

Abrasive Wear.

Coatings protect screw conveyor bearings from wear in the abusive environment of the ready-mix concrete industry. The huge, smooth- faced printing rollers used in the manufacture of steel cans last longer with a thermal sprayed coating than they did with hard chrome plate.

Sliding Wear.

In marine engines, the chrome plating on piston rings wears away quickly at temperatures exceeding 400ºC (752ºF).  A thermal spray coating reduces friction and lasts longer at high operating temperatures. A coating is used to add a harder surface to the fine steel guides that feed fast-moving threads in the manufacture of textiles, extending their operational life and improving their performance without damage to the thread.

Fretting Wear.

Thermal spray technology is used throughout the aerospace industry to resist the effects of fretting.  Compressor seal rings are protected from fretting and high temperatures with a thermal spray application.  A wear-resistant coating on the mid-span shrouds of the fan blades in turbine engines provides wear resistance.  This makes the use of lightweight titanium alloy for fan blade construction feasible.

Mastering Clearance Control.

Certain applications call for controlling clearances to achieve a desired end result.  Generally speaking, these involve the need to achieve tight, often nearly zero-clearance seals to increase the efficiency of mechanical systems with high-speed, rotating components.  Because of the severe environments in which these coatings must operate, each must be designed to retain dimensional stability across a specific range of operating conditions.

Coatings can withstand a wide range of operating conditions and temperatures up to 1200ºC (2200ºF). Cotings allow the designer to provide for appropriate thermal expansion, compatibility with mating surfaces and hot corrosion resistance.  The coatings develop such "sacrificial surfaces" to meet a very broad range of operating specifications.

Mastering the Effects of Liquids, Gases and Particulate Solids.

The effect of fluids on a solid surface is the result of the complex interplay of chemical action and physical forces.  Direct exposure to liquids, gases, and particulate solids can produce chemical corrosion or erosion.  The high-speed movement of these corrosive fluids prevents the formation of any protective oxide that might have formed in a static environment, thus subjecting the surface to erosion. Cavitation occurs when pressure changes in the liquid can lead to the formation and collapse of vapor bubbles.  This produces high-pressure shock waves that can destroy metallic surfaces.  Particles within the fluid can impact the surface, damaging it even further.

Resist these effects with coating solutions.

Mastering these forces demands an in-depth understanding of the materials and dynamics involved. It is possible to find engineered solutions for virtually any surface-related fluid control problem.

Corrosion.

Emission control oxygen sensors need to operate in the hot gas flow of an automotive exhaust system.  A porous ceramic coating protects the sensor while allowing the oxygen to pass through to the platinum electrodes.

Chrome plating has been replaced by a better-performing thermal spray coating on the plungers of pumps used on offshore natural gas platforms.

The annealing covers used in steel mills are protected from the effects of both gas corrosion and high temperatures by one of our applications.

Erosion.

Valves and pump pistons used in the treatment of highly abrasive waste-water sludge last longer because of our solution.  The eroded walls of power generation boiler tubes can be repaired much faster, and have a much longer service life thanks to the wide range of available coatings

The effects of erosion and suspended particulate matter damage the impellors of positive displacement rotary pumps.  Application of coatings leads to longer service life.  A cost-effective spray application also helps the Pelton wheels in hydraulic turbines last up to six times longer than their original design life.

Mastering Surface Restoration.

While you can retard the effects of wear, you can't stop it forever.  Parts eventually lose dimensionality and must be replaced or resurfaced using thermal spray coatings.  The ability to apply engineering coatings across a broad spectrum of thickness, finish and composition requirements makes thermal spray an ideal way to protect components from being discarded prematurely.

Salvage and restoration of components with thermal spray coatings:

In a wide range of industrial applications, thermal coatings are being used to renew components by restoring their specified dimensions, and by matching, or sometimes improving, their original performance.  How can a restored component be made better than new?  In many cases we can choose a coating that not only meets the functional requirements of the component, but offers better resistance to corrosion, oxidation or mechanical wear than the original substrate, as well.

Dimensional Restoration.

The valves and giant turbines used to regulate flow at hydroelectric dams are exposed to the wearing effects of high-velocity water containing abrasive particulate. Rebuilding with metal spraying restores lost material and saves the utility both maintenance time and money. In the copier industry, fuser rolls deteriorate under continuous use, resulting in the presence of black lines running throughout the copies.  Coatings can restore these rolls to their original specifications at one-fifth the cost of manufacturing new rolls. Continuous use takes its toll on the non-rotating air seals in aircraft turbine engines.  Spray process restores them to their specified dimensions and performance. Going quickly from 150,000 rpm to 0 rpm exposes carbon steel railway motor turbocharger shafts to the effects of adhesive wear.  An economical thermal spray coating restores the shaft diameter and surface finish, and helps make it more wear resistant. The surfaces of printing press cylinders wear quickly.  Coatings  have supplanted plating as the preferred method of reclaiming worn cylinders because thermal spray processing is far faster.  Coatings last longer and exhibit a stronger bond with the substrate.

Mastering Thermal Environments.

Technology creates thermal environments that challenge materials science.  Exposure to these high temperatures can cause surfaces to lose functionality through accelerated oxidation or chemical attack. Coating solutions are used to add new surface properties to underlying technical substrates.

Coated components work better in high-temperature environments. It is possible to improve heat transfer characteristics and help to retard the destructive effects of chemical and oxidizing agents.  The ability to control the way materials respond to temperature extremes helps extend the life of mechanical components.  It also allows engineers to design and protect delicate sensor systems that must operate and survive in thermally hostile environments.

High-Temperature Oxidation and Sulfidation.

Coatings on the turbine blades of jet engines are crucial to helping them retard the effects of oxidation and sulfidation that would result in early failure.

Coating technology is also used in the metal forming industry to provide casting troughs and other components with practical, long-lasting protection from oxidation.

Shielding exhaust manifolds and stacks from the effects of heat, corrosion and chemical attack calls for protective coatings that can survive in high temperatures and a wide range of operating environments.  There are a variety of protective coatings suitable for use in industrial, automotive and marine applications.

High-Temperature Corrosion.

Industrial flue gas stacks and ducts are exposed to high-temperature contact with a variety of chemicals and contaminants. There is an entire family of coating materials for these and many other applications. 

Thermally coated automotive valve seats are protected from high temperatures and abrasion.

Thermal spray coatings protect the cylinder heads of marine diesel engines from the corrosive effects of hot gases.

Insulation.

Another coating solution helps pistons resist the high temperatures and pressures found in industrial diesel engines.

Our coatings on the combustion chambers of jet engines allow them to operate with greater thermal efficiency and at the same time, protect the substrate material from high temperatures.

Mastering Conductivity.

Thermal sprayed coatings can beneficially alter the electrical and thermal conductivity of a component.

Thermal sprayed coatings can exhibit excellent electrical characteristics.  The properties of these coatings often differ significantly from those of the materials from which the coating was formed.  Plasma sprayed copper, for example, demonstrates exceptional conductivity, so it's a perfect tool for producing highly efficient electrical connections.  A thermal sprayed coating of aluminum has 20% greater conductance compared to wrought aluminum, making it ideal for the manufacture of heating elements.  A coating of thermally sprayed alumina exhibits superior voltage break-down strengths, making it an ideal electrical insulator.

Conductivity.

The parabolic surfaces of fiberglass up-link and down-link satellite antennas receive a thermal coating to create a cost-effective conducting surface.  Lower cost is also the reason that coatings have replaced conducting paints and foils for protecting satellite antennas from RF interference.

Electrical equipment manufacturers use thermal coating as a low-cost, high-quality production tool in a broad range of applications.  Coatings are applied, for example to make capacitor solder connections on plastic substrates.

Aluminum coating is applied inside a glass tube to achieve a combination of electrical and dielectric properties necessary to generate ozone for water purification.  The coating is used as a conductor.

For decades, thermally coating axles with a conductive material has been the most efficient and cost- conscious way to provide grounding for electrical railway locomotives.

Resistance.

Coatings are used as an insulator in the casting and forging industry to prevent electrical continuity from being established between sections of high-pressure water piping.

The automotive industry applies one of our thermal spray coatings to distributor rotors in order to reduce electromagnetic interference and suppress noise.

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Last modified: October 30, 2001