Modern manufacturing relies heavily on metal spraying technology to provide a robust and protective coating for a wide range of products. By protecting metal surfaces from corrosion, wear, and other environmental elements, this method extends their lifespan and improves their functionality. Knowing the primary metalization techniques can aid industries in choosing the best strategy for their unique requirements.
The most widely used technique is thermal spraying. This method involves spraying metal onto a product’s surface after it has been heated to its melting point. This produces a robust, weather-resistant layer that is sticky. Because it is adaptable and can be used on a variety of materials, thermal spraying is a preferred option across numerous industries.
One more efficient technique is cold spraying. Cold spraying, in contrast to thermal spraying, involves rapidly accelerating metal particles without melting them. Applications where there must be little thermal impact on the base material are best suited for this technique. Coatings produced by cold spraying are renowned for being dense, superior, and having outstanding bonding qualities.
Another method that is frequently used in metalization is plasma spraying. Metal powders are heated and accelerated in the direction of the target surface using a plasma torch. A strong coating with excellent adhesion and durability is the end result. Because plasma spraying is precise and dependable, it is frequently used in the automotive, medical, and aerospace industries.
Every one of these metal spraying techniques has particular benefits and uses. Industries can guarantee the protection and optimal performance of their products by selecting the most suitable technique. These metalization techniques are developing along with technology, providing ever more effective and efficient ways to protect metal surfaces.
Method | Description |
Flame Spraying | This method uses a high-temperature flame to melt metal wire or powder, which is then sprayed onto the surface. |
Arc Spraying | Two wires are melted by an electric arc and sprayed onto the product using compressed air. |
Plasma Spraying | A plasma torch heats the metal powder, which is then sprayed onto the surface at high speed. |
Cold Spraying | Metal powder is accelerated to high speeds and sprayed onto the surface without melting, preserving its properties. |
- Tasks and options for spraying
- Spraying in magnetron installations
- Technology of ion-plasma surfacing
- Features of plasma metallization
- Laser processing process
- Video on the topic
- Metal spraying technology. Detamet Dimet 404
- DIMETPRO metal spraying apparatus (dimeter)
- Preparation of the product for chemical metallization. Grinding, priming, base varnish.
- Metal spraying to the car body, we treat corrosion
- Thermal spraying: electric -dug metalling metals
- Electric -dugout or gas -flame??? The main methods of metalling.
Tasks and options for spraying
Following powder processing, the metal surface gains significant protective qualities. Metal parts are endowed with wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and fire-resistant properties based on their intended use and purpose.
Ensuring a prolonged operational resource of parts and mechanisms due to exposure to vibrational processes, high temperatures, alternate loads, and the influence of aggressive media is the primary goal of spraying the basic base of metal.
The following methods are used for metal spraying processes:
- Vacuum processing – the material with severe heating in a vacuum medium is converted into steam, which during the condensation process is besieged on the processed surface.
- Metal plasma or gas -plasma spraying – the processing method is based on the use of electric arcs formed between a pair of electrodes with inert gas injection and ionization.
- The gas -dynamic method of processing – the protective coating is formed during the contact and interaction of microparticles of the cold metal, the speed of which is increased by the ultrasonic stream of gas, with a substrate.
- Laser beam spraying-process generation occurs using optical-quantum equipment. Local laser radiation allows the processing of complex parts.
- Magnetron spraying – performed when the cathode spraying in a plasma medium is exposed to apply thin films to the surface. In the technology of magnetron methods of processing, magnetrons are used.
- Protection of metal surfaces in an ion-plasma method-based on spraying materials in a vacuum medium with condensation and precipitation on a processed basis. The vacuum method does not allow metals to heat up and deform.
The selection of the technological method for spraying metal surfaces, parts, and mechanisms is based on the characteristics that require a sprayed basis. On an industrial scale, the advanced technologies of laser, plasma, and vacuum metallization are widely used because the volumetric alloy method is economically costly.
Spraying in magnetron installations
The melting of the metal used to make the magnetron target is the foundation for the metalization of surfaces in accordance with magnetron spraying technology. Processing takes place when ions from the working gas environment that are formed in the discharge plasma impact each other. Characteristics of magnetron installations’ application:
- The main elements of the working system are a cathode, anode, a magnetic environment that promotes the localization of the plasma stream at the surface of the sprayed target.
- The action of the magnetic system activates the use of the permanent field magnets (Samaria-Kobalt, Neoty), established on the basis of magnetonist materials.
- When the voltage is supplied from the power source to the cathode of the ionic installation, the target spray, and the current strength must be maintained at a stable high level.
- The magnetron process is based on the use of the working environment, which is the connection of inert and reaction gases of high purity, which fits into the vacuum equipment chamber under pressure.
Thin metal films can be produced using this processing method thanks to the benefits of magnetron spraying. For instance, goods made of copper, gold, silver, and aluminum. In addition to the formation of dielectric coatings, semiconductor films made of silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and silicon carbide are formed.
The magnetron method’s primary benefits are its high target spraying rate, particle precipitation, precise chemical composition replication, lack of processed part overheating, and uniformity of applied coating.
High particle deposition speeds for processing metals and semiconductors, as well as the creation of thin films with dense crystalline structures and strong adhesive qualities on sprayed surfaces, are all made feasible by the use of magnetron equipment. The primary list of studies on magnetron metallization comprises super-speed copper surfacing, chronicle, nickeling, reactive oxide spraying, carbo- and oxinitrides, and oxide spraying.
Technology of ion-plasma surfacing
Ion-plasma spraying is a commonly used technique to apply coatings on metal products that last for several years. It is predicated on the physicochemical characteristics of materials and the use of a vacuum environment to evaporate and spray in the airless space.
Use of an ion-plasma spraying installation to solve significant technical issues for product metallization is made possible by a technologically sophisticated process:
- Increasing the parameters of wear resistance, the exclusion of sintering during operation of products in high temperatures.
- Increasing the corrosion stability of metals during operation in aggressive aquatic, chemical media.
- Giving electromagnetic properties and characteristics, operation within the boundaries of the infrared and optical range.
- Obtaining high-quality galvanic coatings, giving products to products of decorative and protective properties, processing parts and mechanisms used in different industries.
The ion-plasma spraying technique relies on the utilization of a vacuum environment. Spots of the first and second levels form after the cathode ignites; these spots travel quickly and create a plasma stream in the ion layer. A dense crystal coating is besieged by the stream that is obtained as a result of cathode erosion as it travels through the vacuum environment and interacts with condensed surfaces.
Applying protective coatings at the cathode coat temperature of up to 100 °C is possible with the use of ion-plasma spraying; this is a relatively straightforward method that yields layers as thick as 20 μm.
Structurally complex products of non-standard geometric shapes can be given the necessary properties with the aid of ion-plasma spraying to the metal. The metal surface does not have to cover the finish layer after processing.
Features of plasma metallization
Plasma metallization is a method of processing metal in addition to magnetron and ion-plasma spraying. The technology’s primary goals include hardening the processed surface, improving operational qualities, protecting products from oxidative processes in harsh environments, and increasing their resistance to mechanical loads.
Aluminum and other metals are sprayed with plasma using a high-speed acceleration of the metal powder in the plasma stream, which causes microparticles to precipitate as a covering layer.
Benefits and characteristics of metal-pumping with plasma technology:
- The high-temperature method of applying a protective layer to the processed surface (about 5000-6000 ° C) occurs over a split second.
- Using the methods of regulating the gas composition, you can obtain combined saturation of the metal surface with powder coatings atoms.
- Due to the uniformity of the flow of the plasma stream, it is possible to get the same porous, high -quality coating. The final product exceeds the results of traditional methods of metalling.
- The duration of the pomping process is low, which helps to achieve one hundred percent economic efficiency of the use of plasma equipment on different production scale.
A high-frequency generator, a sealing chamber, a gas environment reservoir, a pressure pumping plant, and a control system make up the main parts of the operational installation. When using a vacuum chamber and the required equipment, one may use plasma spraying technology on metal at home to oxidize hot metal surfaces and targets.
Parts restoration using spraying is seen in the video.
Laser processing process
Optical-quantum equipment’s light-flow mechanisms and parts can be restored by utilizing laser surfacing on metal. One of the most promising techniques for producing nanostructured films is vacuum laser spraying. Particles precipitate on the substrate after a light beam is sprayed onto the target, completing the process.
Benefits of technology include: uniform chemical element evaporation, simplicity in metallization implementation, and the ability to produce film coatings with a specific stachiometric composition. Any metal can be used to achieve the product’s surfacing because of the laser’s concentrated narrow direction of flow.
Mechanisms of liquid-falling phase formation:
- Large drops of molten target particles are formed by exposure to the hydrodynamic mechanism. In this case, the diameter of large drops varies in the range of 1-100 μm.
- Medium -sized drops are formed due to the processes of volumetric steam formation. The size of the drops varies in the range of 0.01-1 μm.
- When exposed to the target of short and frequent impulses of the laser beam in the erosion torch, a small target of a small size is formed-40-60 nm.
The degree to which a specific surfacing mechanism influences the acquisition of the necessary characteristics during the surfacing of metals on the target depends on the three working mechanisms (hydrodynamics, steaming, and high-frequency impulse) operating simultaneously in the laser installation.
To obtain laser torches with the least amount of liquid-heaped particles at the output, exposure to the target under such an irradiation regime is one of the requirements for high-quality laser processing.
Metal spraying technology, which includes techniques like flame, arc, and plasma spraying, is crucial for safeguarding and improving the robustness of metal products. These methods provide enhanced resistance to wear, corrosion, and high temperatures by applying a fine metal coating to surfaces. Because of their distinct benefits, each technique can be applied to a variety of industrial settings, including the aerospace and automotive industries. Knowing these techniques makes it easier to choose the best procedure for a given set of requirements, guaranteeing the longevity and best possible performance of metal components.
The way we improve and preserve metal surfaces has been completely transformed by metal spraying technology. We can greatly increase a substrate’s resistance to wear, corrosion, and temperature extremes by coating it with metal. This procedure is essential for increasing the longevity of metal parts in a variety of industries, including aerospace and automotive.
Metal spraying can be done in a few main ways, each with special benefits. By using a flammable gas to melt the metal, it can be sprayed onto surfaces through flame spraying. This approach is well-liked for a variety of applications due to its adaptability and affordability. On the other hand, arc spraying allows for a high deposition rate and strong adhesion because it melts the metal using an electric arc. Another cutting-edge method is plasma spraying, which uses a plasma jet to produce a superior coating that is perfect for important parts that need to be precise.
The type of metal being sprayed, the desired coating properties, and the particular application requirements all play a role in the metal spraying method selection. Since every method has advantages and disadvantages, choosing the best one is crucial to getting the best results. It is possible to make better decisions during the selection process by having a better understanding of these techniques and their uses.
To sum up, metal spraying technology provides a practical way to improve the robustness and functionality of metal goods. Industries can guarantee the durability and good protection of their components by using the right spraying technique. In the long run, this increases efficiency and lowers costs while also raising the caliber of the products. We may anticipate even more cutting-edge methods for metal spraying in the future, which will increase its potential and range of uses.