Articles

basics 28 Feb 2018

How to Audit a Liquid Paint System

To correct paint system settings that have drifted over time, Sames Kremlin’s Steven Romer strongly recommends annual audits.

Liquid Coating 27 Feb 2018

BASF Sponsors Automobile Design Competition

Introduced in 2012, Detroit’s Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment is considered the “Fight Club of Design,” an underground, automotive industry event developed to identify emerging talent in car design.

Powder Coating 23 Feb 2018

IGP Pulvertechnik AG Acquires Performance Powders

The Swiss powder coating system manufacturer has purchased the Kentucky-based company and hired Dean Edwards to head up the new North American operations.

Powder Coating 21 Feb 2018

Protherm Purchases Process Thermal Dynamics

Protherm owner Marty Sawyer also owns Trimac Industrial Systems of Kansas City, Kansas, which manufactures process heating and cleaning equipment.

Liquid Coating 19 Feb 2018

PPG Market Manager Receives Metal Construction Association Award

Forty-year PPG veteran Scott Moffatt was recognized for his volunteer contributions to the organization.

research 17 Feb 2018

Electroless Nickel Coatings: Appearance, Gloss and Surface Morphology

For decorative coatings, appearance is the essential purpose for application, but also for functional surface finishes it becomes increasingly relevant as an added value on top of specified technical requirements. Appearance is affected by spectrum and intensity of incident light, roughness and morphology of the coating surface, optical properties of the coating material, eventual superficial oxide films, and individual perception. The predominant factor is surface roughness, which in turn depends on base material roughness, quality of substrate pretreatment, and nucleation and growth kinetics of the electroless nickel (EN) deposit. Interdependency of gloss measurements with roughness measurements and with chemical composition of coatings was investigated for new generation mid-P EN processes and compared to traditional ones.

research 17 Feb 2018

Nanostructures by Anodization of Alumina in Phosphoric Acid at Low Potential

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) has been investigated, in terms of influence of the process time, anodizing potential and methanol addition on the structural features of porous anodic alumina formed in 0.1M H3PO4 solution by two-step self-organized anodizing for potentials ranging from 100-150 V. The structural features of the porous structures, including pore diameter and interpore distance, were evaluated from FE-SEM top-view images for samples anodized in the presence and absence of methanol.

Liquid Coating 16 Feb 2018

CCAI Twin Cities Hosts Minnesota Paint & Powder Expo

The 2018 Minnesota Paint & Powder Coating Expo and related symposium will take place March 14-15, at Century College in White Bear Lake, near St. Paul. The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) at the University of Minnesota is a co-host.

Electroplating 15 Feb 2018

No Building? No Problem for Protech Metal Finishing's Nadcap Certification

Although a fire completely destroyed its facilities, the company and its employees banded together to assemble a makeshift plating operation and prepare for the certification process, which Protech then passed.

Electrocoating 15 Feb 2018

Tru-Tone Finishing Plans Ecoating Facility in Kentucky

The family-owned provider of industrial electrocoating plans to create 120 jobs and have the ecoat line operational this summer in Lexington.

Electroplating 15 Feb 2018

Process Technology Acquires Dynatronix

Process Technology makes thermal solutions for surface finishing, high-purity and aquaculture applications; Dynatronix manufactures direct-current, pulse and pulse-reverse power supplies.