Thermal spray produces long-life nonstick coat

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 17, 2002

A new generation thermal spray technology creates a range of tough, flexible coatings with excellent wear, nonstick and release properties.

A new generation thermal spray technology creates a range of tough, flexible coatings with excellent wear, nonstick and release properties.

Apticote Plasmadize 850, which uses an infused matrix of metals, ceramics, proprietary polymers and/or dry lubricants, creates structural integrity and nonporous moisture-proof surfaces that offer superior release properties against adhesives, glues, tapes and other sticky substances when applied to metallic and nonmetallic tooling.

It outperforms conventional thermal spray systems to provide a unique combination of excellent corrosion, wear and chemical resistance, high levels of lubricity and USDA/FDA approvals.

A spokesman for Poeton says: "Apticote Plasmadize 850 can solve all the 'sticky substance' problems encountered in areas such as adhesive formulation, label printing, tape manufacture or converting".

"This advanced coating range is custom designed to act as a release system for all types of metal parts that come into contact with adhesives, where it can eliminate downtime and cleaning delays and help meet critical production schedules".

Typical applications include packaging and printing, food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical production.

The technology is currently being used to protect sealing equipment such as bars, jaws and dies against abrasive wear and corrosion.

Apticote Plasmadize 850's permanent, nonstick coating dramatically extends service life by eliminating the need to constantly apply and re-apply nonstick tapes that rapidly wear out.

The coating also prevents plastic and other materials from sticking or bonding to the parts.

In the pharmaceutical industry it has solved one company's problem with glue adhering to sealing bars during the heat sealing of polythene bags.

The application of the FDA compliant nonstick coating eliminated sticking and dramatically improved operating speeds.

Release coatings can also be customised for the different types of sticky residue that can come into contact with the surface of moulds and rollers during the manufacture of food products such as biscuits and sweets.

The coatings, which are FDA compliant and USDA approved are suitable for applications such as biscuit moulds and dies, vibratory feeder bowls, hoppers, pill moulds, filling machines, potato chip paddles, flow guides, cooking pans and griddles.

A current example includes a bakery that is saving money on a Pillo-pak machine that is fitted with parts coated with Plasmadize.

When the ear section of one component regularly broke off it had to be thrown away.

Now when it fails it is stripped, the ear is repaired, the profile is reformed and Plasmadize is re-applied.

The refurbished part performs like a new one, at a fraction of the cost of a replacement.

Specifications for the new coating include: a 10-15% increase in wear resistance compared with thermal sprayed plasma tungsten carbide coatings and up to 30% compared to thermal sprayed plasma ceramic coatings; an operating temperature range from -129 to +704C when used as a release or gripping surface; salt spray resistance in excess of 6kh (ASTM B-117 and dependent on the coating type used); a coefficient of friction is as low as 0.06 compared with 0.22 for thermal sprayed tungsten carbide; and resistance to most acids, alkalis and organic solvents.

(This was Engineeringtalk's Top Story on 16 October 2002).