Various Applications of Thermoplastic Coating

Thermoplastics and thermosets are widely used in coating numerous materials. Their application methods vary as much as the materials that they cover, including the more common methods of fluidized bed dip coating and electrostatic spraying. Other application methods include:

Fluidised Bed Coating- This method of applying thermoplastic resin to a product, the item is heated then immersed in a dense-phase fluidized bed of the powdered resin, then heated again in an oven to melt and flow the resin into a smooth, pin-hole-free coating.

Electrostatic spraying- In this method an electrical charge is applied to the dry powder particles with the use of either a Tribo-charge gun or a corona spray gun. The item being sprayed is electrically grounded and an electrostatic field is created by the charged powder and grounded workpiece, which pulls the powder particles towards the workpiece. The coated piece is then placed in a curing oven, where the powder particles melt and flow over the surface providing a smooth protective coating.

Flame Spraying-This method incorporates a propane flame gun which melts the finely powdered fragments of plastic as it is sprayed onto the workpiece. This is also known as thermal spraying.

Dip Coating-In this process, the item is dipped into a bath coating it.

Curtain Coating-This method utilizes a low viscosity resins or solutions, suspensions, or emulsions of resins in which the part or workpiece is passed through perpendicular to the curtain of falling liquid, coating the workpiece. The flow rate of the liquid and the linear speed of the workpiece through the curtain are synchronized so that the desired thickness of the coating is achieved in one pass.