Industrial Coating
Industrial coating services encompass a wide range of processes used to deposit a thin layer of materials onto a part, referred to as a substrate. The substrate is typically metallic but may also be a polymer. Industrial coatings are utilized for a wide range of reasons; however, the primary two reasons for coating a part is to either protect that part from corrosion, wear and/or environmental factors or to imbibe the part with the characteristics of the coating, which it would not otherwise have.
Quick links to Industrial Coating Information
Materials and Applications of Industrial Coating
Industrial coatings can be formed from a broad spectrum of materials including: ceramics such as carbide; plastics such as polyester and urethane; rubber such as silicone and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM); and metallic elements such as manganese, zinc, silver, iron and copper. Although industrial coatings are primarily used in industrial manufacturing and processing applications, several other industries utilize their highly tough characteristics including: construction, in order to coat steel and concrete building materials; automotive, for the coating of the external frame as well as the undercarriage of the vehicle; petroleum, to coat oil and gas transmission pipelines; aerospace, for the protective coating of various aviation tools as well as a sealant; and medical, in order to coat various devices, supplies and safety equipment.
Coating Processes
There are a couple of different coating processes that can be used to achieve industrial coatings. The main kinds of industrial coating services include processes that can be categorized by the substrate being coated or by the material that is coated onto the substrate. One coating method categorized by the substrate being coated is steel coating, since steel is typically coated on and not used as a coating itself. Due to its lack of corrosion-resistance (unless it has been alloyed with chromium to form stainless steel), steel is often coated with materials such as zinc and nickel. For steel coating services, the two main ways in which steel is coated is through powder coating and epoxy coating. Two main coating services that are categorized by the material that is coated onto the substrate are ceramic coating and phosphate coating. In ceramic coating, inorganic ceramic materials are deposited onto the substrate, which is typically metal. As non-metallic materials, ceramics are actually extremely hard and durable after undergoing machining (such as the application of extreme heat, then subsequent cooling). While categorized by the same means, phosphate coating and ceramic coating services are very different. In phosphate coating, the surface of the substrate is chemically converted into a layer of a non-metallic, crystalline conversion coating formed from phosphate salts such as manganese, zinc and iron.