Page 22 - MetalForming September 2015

20 MetalForming/September 2015
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Materials & Coatings
New Powder Coating Perfect for Hiding Fabrication Marks
and Beam Technology, and LIMO Lis- sotschenko Mikrooptik GmbH have ini- tiated development work on a new laser technology that the partners will use to improve the properties of steel strip sur- faces. The collaboration is part of the OSLO research project, spearheaded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and scheduled to be com- pleted in 2017.
American Grinders, Inc., Harvard, IL, has introduced its Smooth Texture powder coating, designed to hide heat or weld dis- tortion, fabrication marks, part bruising and grinding scars. Applications include retail displays, shelving systems, industrial doors and electrical enclosures. The tex- tured product is non-contaminating, mak- ing color changeover quick and simple. It’s available in numerous colors and gloss lev- els, and can be matched to current-use coatings.
OSLO will research how the properties of ferrous-steel strip materials can be influenced in a targeted manner by laser surface treatment in a continuous inline wide-strip process. Materials experts refer to it as functionalizing. To provide steel with better corrosion protection, for example, the laser will uniformly heat the steel’s surface layers over the entire strip width. But corrosion protection is not the only benefit of this alloying or surface- melting process. Thanks to uniform heat- ing, it is also energy-efficient and envi- ronmentally friendly—the laser only heats the surface, rather than the entire volume of the wide strip.
ThyssenKrupp: www.thyssenkrupp.com
The coating comes in various formulas designed to fit the application: super-durable polyester for arduous outdoor UV exposure; general-purpose TGIC polyesters or hybrids; and tough epoxies for indoor, heavy-duty and chemical-resistant applications.
Near-Neutral-pH Descaler Ideal for Mixed-Metal Applications
American Grinders will produce the Smooth Texture powder coatings in batch sizes from 55-lb. boxes to 2500-lb. con- tainers, or larger.
PPG Industries introduces Ultrax metal conditioner 257, a near-neutral descaler solution that removes weld scale, light oxide and other impurities from steel sur- faces. It also preconditions galvanized steel, white metal, aluminum and other nonferrous materials prior to pretreat- ment with zinc-phosphate and other thin- film pretreatments.
American Grinders: www.onlinepowdercoatings.com
Ultrax metal conditioner 257 enables descaling and surface activation of welds while pre-conditioning surfaces of parts comprised of mixed-metal substrates through a single descaling system. With con- ventional conditioning technologies, there is no simple way for manufacturers to clean and precondition welded parts fab- ricated from steel, galvanized steel and nonferrous metals prior to pretreatment.
German Group Researching Laser
as Tool for Steel-Strip Surface Improvement
Germany-based ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, the Dortmund Project Group of the Fraunhofer Institute for Materials