The Advantages and Limitations of UV Powder Coating

In the past twenty years, powder coating has been limited to mostly metal products. However, with the recent introduction of ultraviolet (UV)-curable powder coating, the capabilities of powder coating applications have expanded to include wood, plastic, and other heat-sensitive components including medium density fiberboard (MDF) products.

There are several advantages associated with conventional powder coating technology, including its durability, the fact that it is environmentally friendly, and powder coating provides an easily to apply coverage that completely coats the item or part.

Once conventional powders were reformulated so that they cured with exposure to UV radiation, many more advantages were realized including those concerning the process, economical factors, and finishes.

Because the UV-powder curing process involves two-steps, the melting and flowing of the powder and then the curing the powder can be more precisely controlled and tailored to each individual process. In addition, the overall cycle time is also significantly less than that of conventional powders. The reduced cycle time of the UV process correlates directly into economic savings.

When compared to thermally cured coatings, UV coatings offer a superior coating hardness along with an increased resistance to scratches, impact damage, stains and harmful effects from chemicals.

However as wonderful as UV-powder coating sounds it does have a few limitations including the need for preheating, which does contributes to the rise of the wood gain and or fiber as well as a reduction in moisture in the material. For this reason, sealers or primers man be used to prevent this but they add an extra step and cost to the process. Another lamination is that some MDF products will accept powder coating well due to how the MDF was manufactured. Many times the item will require sanding to avoid defects in the surface such as cracking. In addition, if the preconditioning temperatures are set too high, then the outer edges will lose moisture, causing difficulties for a good powder adherence and UV cannot reach into dark shadow areas.