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The Main Reasons to be Using Powder Coating Compared to Liquid Coatings
Powder Coating as it's often referred to is the ability of applying a non liquid coating to a negatively grounded part. The film is then warmed until the powder melt and flow out into a smooth surface coating. While this system has been around for many of years, most are still confused about it's tons of benefits and how to use them to their advantage. In a engineering sense, Powder Coating has many benefits over liquid paints.
Powder Coating has a incredibly low VOC count
(Volatile Organize Compounds) so it is far easier on the environment then liquid based. It is also far easier to apply thicker films then original solvent based coatings. Powder Coating overspray has the aspect to be 100% retrieved compared to liquid based coatings which are unuseable once they leave the liqud gun. Powder coating equipment is also pretty simple in it's application and curing, so the costs to run an assembly line is generally less then a conventional liquid spraying system. Also, the thicker coating is far more durable then conventional paint, so it lasts end user abuse far better. Powder coating can be applied by a variety of means, the 2 most likely are liquid transfer and static spray.In a liquid transfer setup, the powder is applied with the same technique as a plating is put on a generic piece. The piece is grounded to the power supply unit, and dipped into a heated vat of water where the pigmented powders are suspended, and a positive current is applied to
the water which attracts the particles to the negatively charged item suspended in it. Once that is finished the piece is removed and then allowed to dry before moved on for curing. The disadvantage to this system is when drying, the part has the chances of getting pollutants into it's finishing coat, and possibly leave blemishes in the finalized piece if not isolated from this. In a static spray setup, the items are rigged to a grounded transportation cable, or any type of conducting platform setup the designer wishes to use. A gun proppelled by compressed air pushes the pigmented particles over a positively charged center rod to charge them. These positively charged particles now migrate towards and cling to the grounded item in the path's of least resistance, or in easier terms, where the powder has the least buildup. The only downfall with a static spray setup is the unlikely occurance of a Faraday Cage effect, where the charged ions can actually keep powder from entering a corner or the such. This can sometimes be overcame with raising power from the spray gun, or by pre-heating the pieces prior to application. Once the Powder is adhered, curing can take place by multiple different combinations of equipment. Many Powders cure when increased to 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. This allows the polymers cross hatch in thermosetting powders for increased strength. It is important that the part the powder is being applied to stays at this core temperature so that the powder coat attaches to the piece yielding maximum strength. Options for reaching this desired temperature include infrared ovens or convection ovens. With the advantages for cost savings and other incentives, anybody in the manufacturing design field should strongly consider non solvent based finishes as your pick for finish.
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Contributor's Note
Jared's blog Powder Coating for beginners is a helpful, informative site to help you master the arts of quality jobs time and time again.
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PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
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