What is Powdercoating?                                   

Powdercoating 

 

Powdercoating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. The main difference between a conventional wet spraying and a powder coating is that powder coating does not require a solvent to keep the binder and filler parts in a liquid suspension form. The coating is typically applied electrolytically and is then cured under heat to allow it to flow and form a "skin". The powder may be a thermoplastic or a thermoset polymer. It is usually used to create a hard finish that is tougher than conventional paint. Powder coating is mainly used for coating of metals, such as household appliances, aluminium extrusions, and automobile and bicycle parts.

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Advantages and disadvantages

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The advantages of powder coating;

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1. Powder coating emits zero or near zero volatile organic compounds (VOC).

2. Powder coating can produce much thicker coatings than conventional liquid coatings without running or sagging.

3. Powder coating overspray can be recycled and thus it is possible to achieve nearly 100% use of the coating.

4. Powder coating production lines produce less hazardous waste than conventional liquid coatings.

5. Capital equipment and operating costs for a powder line are generally less than for conventional liquid lines ensuring Ferndown Powder Coatings Ltd are extremely cost effective.

6. Powder coated items generally have fewer appearance differences between horizontally coated surfaces and vertically coated surfaces than liquid coated items.

7. A wide range of specialty effects is easily accomplished which would be impossible to achieve with other coating processes.

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For optimum material handling and ease of application, most powder coatings have a particle size in the range of 30 to 50 μm and a TG around 200°C. For such powder coatings, film build-ups of greater than 50 μm may be required to obtain an acceptably smooth film. The surface texture which is considered desirable or acceptable depends on the end product. Many manufacturers actually prefer to have a certain degree of orange peel since it helps to hide metal defects that have occurred during manufacture, and the resulting coating is less prone to showing fingerprints.

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There are very specialised operations where powder coatings of less than 30 micrometers or with a TG below 40°C are used in order to produce smooth thin films. One variation of the dry powder coating process, the Powder Slurry process, combines the advantages of powder coatings and liquid coatings by dispersing very fine powders of 1–5 micrometer particle size into water, which then allows very smooth, low film thickness coatings to be produced.

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Powder coatings have a major advantage in that the overspray can be recycled.

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Types of powder coatings

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There are two main categories of powder coatings: thermosets and thermoplastics. The thermosetting variety incorporates a cross-linker into the formulation. When the powder is baked, it reacts with other chemical groups in the powder to polymerize, improving the performance properties. The thermoplastic variety does not undergo any additional actions during the baking process, but rather only flows out into the final coating.

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The most common polymers used are polyester, polyurethane, polyester-epoxy (known as hybrid), straight epoxy (fusion bonded epoxy) and acrylics.

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Production

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1. The polymer granules are mixed with hardener, pigments and other powder ingredients in a mixer

2. The mixture is heated in an extruder

3. The extruded mixture is rolled flat, cooled and broken into small chips

4. The chips are milled and sieved to make a fine powder

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Paint stripping

 

Paint stripping is removal of oil, soil, lubrication greases, metal oxides, welding scales etc. is essential prior to the powder coating process. It can be done by a variety of chemical and mechanical methods. The selection of the method depends on the size and the material of the part to be powder coated, the type of soil to be removed and the performance requirement of the finished product.

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Chemical pre-treatments 

 

Chemical pre-treatments involve the use of phosphates or chromates in submersion or spray application. These often occur in multiple stages and consist of paint stripping, degreasing, etching, de-smutting, various rinses and the final phosphating or chromating of the substrate. The pre-treatment process both cleans and improves bonding of the powder to the metal. Titanium zirconium and silanes offer similar performance against corrosion and adhesion of the powder.

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Sandblasting

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Another method of preparing the surface prior to coating is known as abrasive blasting or sandblasting / shot blasting. Blast media and blasting abrasives are used to provide surface texturing and preparation, etching, finishing, and degreasing for products made of metal, plastic, or glass.

 

The most important properties to consider are chemical composition and density; particle shape and size; and impact resistance. Ferndown Powder Coatings Ltd can provide all of these services.

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The powder coating process

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1. Part preparation or the pre-treatment

2. The powder application

3. Curing

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Application

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The most common way of applying the powder coating to metal objects is to spray the powder using an electrostatic gun. The gun imparts a positive electric charge to the powder, which is then sprayed towards the grounded object, by mechanical or compressed air spraying, and then accelerated toward the work-piece by the powerful electrostatic charge. There are a wide variety of spray nozzles available for use in electrostatic coating. The type of nozzle used will depend on the shape of the work-piece to be painted and the consistency of the paint. The object is then heated and the powder melts into a uniform film, it is then cooled to form a hard coating. It is also common to heat the metal first and then spray the powder onto the hot substrate. Preheating can help to achieve a more uniform finish.