Thermal Spray Options IPS: [ back ]

Industrial Parts Specialties offers four methods of thermal spray technology: Arc 9000 dual wire arc gun coatings, fused coatings, plasma gun coatings, and JP-5000 HVOF thermal spray coatings.

ARC 9000 Dual Wire Arc Gun:
This thermal spray method provides quick buildup of deep or large areas, which makes it a very economical thermal spray option for large jobs. This method uses a wire material as feed stock, and an electric arc to provide the heat source. Temperatures reach 4,000 degrees C as the wire melts and melds onto the part. One of the advantages of this method is that two different wires can be used simultaneously to produce a pseudo alloy, or coatings with unique properties. Coatings include nickel, chrome, stainless steel, Inconel, Hastelloy, alloy, and high chrome steel alloy.

Example of ARC 9000 Dual Wire Arc Gun process: (Click Here)

Fused Coatings:

Fused coatings are reliable, inexpensive and offer excellent resistance to galling, corrosion and abrasive wear, making it perfect for extreme applications. In addition, the coating material is fused to the base material forming a molecular bond at the interface of the two materials similar to the weld overlay process providing an excellent and permanent bond. A variety of materials can be sprayed on to sufficient thickness, and then the part is heated to almost 2000 degrees F to achieve the fusion desired in this type of coating. This process is used mostly on new parts, but provides great part protection for extreme conditions. Coatings include colmonoy, stellite and others upon request.

Example of the Fused Coatings Process: (Click Here)

Grinding a fuse coated sleeve process: (Click Here)

Plasma Gun Coating:

Ceramic coatings are applied with this thermal spraying method. These coatings are very popular for repairing and building up worn areas on used parts, and significantly extend the life of these parts. In this process, powdered metal is fed into a plasma arc created within the gun, and it is heated to 15,000 degrees C or more to melt the coating onto the part via a high pressure air feed. Coatings include nickel/chrome, chrome oxide, stainless steel, aluminum bronze, Hastelloy, Inconel, Titanium dioxide, aluminum oxide, and stellite.

Example of Plasma Arc Gun Process: (Click Here)

Chrome oxide is a very hard ceramic coating that is one of the most popular of the spray coating processes used at IPS.  It coats parts with a very hard surface and can resist corrosive attacks from many chemicals.  The chrome oxide coating is applied to the shaft using a plasma arc gun.  This gun generates extreme temperatures in the plasma arc that allows the instantaneous melting of ceramic powdered coatings and the ability to apply them to a part.

JP-5000 HVOF Thermal Spray Coatings:

This is the most technologically advanced coating method at IPS. HVOF stands for High Velocity Oxygen Fuel. Instead of the other guns that use high pressure air to propel coatings, this method uses combustion similar to a jet engine. It provides a dense, well bonded and incredibly hard surface to almost any metal surface, including new and used parts, to prevent erosion and corrosion. Some of the coatings offered using this process include Inconel, Hastelloy, Stellite, Nickel/Chrome, Tungsten Carbides with nickel, cobalt and chromium, and Nickel/Chrome/Boron.

Example of use of the JP-5000 HVOF thermal spray gun: (Click Here)

Turbine Rotor Repair: This turbine rotor had damage to both bearing journals that required both journals to be coated with an HVOF hard coating to bring them back to serviceable condition.  The ability to repair the shaft with the wheels still mounted is a considerable cost savings to the customer and the bearing journal is now impervious to moisture and rust.  The coating used allows for a very high quality surface finish and should be able to last the life of the turbine providing proper maintenance and lubrication practices are followed.