Application fields of powder coating and coating technology
Application fields of powder coating and coating technology
Due to enormous environmental pressures, powder coatings continue to replace liquid coatings as the mainstream today. With the improvement of powder coating and coating technology, the application field of powder coating will be larger. The improvement in powder coating and coating technology is mainly due to the growth in demand in the automotive industry, home appliance industry and general industrial sectors, including the development and improvement of raw materials, powder manufacturing and coating technology. The application of powder coatings in the automotive industry continues to expand, and powder coatings are used in automotive chassis, interior parts, wheels and body. Technical improvements in automotive powder coatings include: transparency, adhesion, leveling and UV resistance of clear powders: reducing curing temperatures as much as possible while maintaining the appearance and performance of powder coatings; and various coating technologies such as robotics technology, airflow control technology, high powder rate technology), etc.
The application of powder coating pre-coated metal sheets (coils) in the home appliance industry is growing rapidly. It is required that the powder coating can complete the whole process of melting, flowing, leveling and curing within 25 to 60 seconds, while maintaining a good appearance of the paint film and various weather resistance. Powder coatings for household appliances must have a certain degree of post-formability, and the degree of formability depends on the end use. The coated sheets should be able to stack together. Ordinary sheet metal film coating line speed should reach 30-80 fpm, and coil coating line speed should reach 100 fpm. In addition, airflow control (or reduction), powder loading rate or charge transfer rate should be controlled optimally. Improving the appearance of cured coating film under high-speed coating is the main direction of improvement of powder coating technology for household appliances. It involves matching of infrared light wavelength/light intensity to coating and substrate, fast leveling convection heating and induction heating curing methods, curing process with good surface continuity of powder coating film, and cleanliness of the entire curing system.
The development of the automobile industry and the home appliance industry has promoted the development of special powder coating systems and coating technologies. The application of special powder coatings suitable for different processes in general industrial coatings continues to increase, and gradually enters areas that were difficult to enter before (because of too many color requirements, too fast coating speed, serious bleeding, and too much coating), ETC. ). In the general industrial coatings market, powder coatings are another bright spot because they can be supplied in multiple batches to meet the needs of many small customers. The increasing number of powder coating equipment suppliers and raw material suppliers has also prompted many regional coating suppliers to add powder coating production lines.
In short, the increase in the number of suppliers is most beneficial to small and medium powder users. They have access to stable prices of raw materials and the products are more practical. However, the development of major powder customers tends to benefit only a few specific suppliers, making them more relevant to powder coatings, coating processes and end users.
