Coating Application Facilities
Coatings group expertise is augmented by one of the best equipped application facilities in the world. Exceptional equipment includes an environmentally controllable paint booth and a comprehensive powder coating capability. To take advantage of the unique facilities described below, please contact Bill Culhane.
Successful coating requires proper surface preparation. A dedicated sample preparation line is designed to clean, degrease, and conversion-coat test specimens prior to painting. Equipment is available to immerse samples in alkaline cleaners, acid etches, and conversion coatings (either chromated or non-chromated). The equipment accommodates both hand- and spray-applied surface pretreatments.
The Wright-Patterson AFB state-of-the-art, climate-controlled paint booth can be controlled to allow paint application and curing over the full range of environmental conditions (40-110°F, +/-5°F; 10-90% RH, +/-5% RH) likely to be found in the field. The equipment brings climate-related problems (e.g. film build, sagging) into the lab for controlled study and resolution. Adjacent to the large booth (10 feet x 14 feet x 9 feet) is an equally large climate-controlled prep area. The combination permits us to coat samples that range from very small to large sections (8 feet by 4 feet and larger).
In addition, the group maintains a powder coating lab with a Nordson Flexicoat powder coating system for electrostatic and/or hot-dipping fluidized bed coating. The equipment can be used with any conventional powder coating material as well as with inorganic powders such as ceramic, talc and mica. A Gema Volstatic MPS 1-L manual powder system and PG 1 powder gun are available for electrostatic coating. Other application techniques available include physical vapor deposition (PVD), hot filament chemical vapor deposition (CVD), microwave plasma-enhanced CVD, and microwave plasma substrate-less CVD.
The Coatings group can conduct a broad array of tests on finished samples (see Coating Testing). The above facilities are available to us when the Coating group is solving coating problems.