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FABRICATION Steel wires of
the requied diameter & length are cut and bent to the desired
shape and then spot welded to fabricate the required shape of the
article. Jigs should be carefully designed to achieve good accuracy,
repeatability and desired production rates. The
prefabricated article is de-greased, de-rusted, de-scaled,
passivated and cleaned. Thin 'wire loops' should be attached at
suitable locations, for ease of handling the article, so as not to
mar the product appearance. These are later snipped off after the
entire operation is over.
PREHEATING The bare
article is then heated in an oven at 250°-300°C (480-570°F) for 5-10
minutes. The heating time and temperature depends on the mass of the
article and the loading of the oven. This has to be practically
ascertained to provide the desired production rates and coating
thickness. For electrostatic coating lower temperatures may be
used.
COATING The
heated article is dipped in a tray containing the powder and the
powder splashed on it, or dipped in a fluidised bed of the powder
for 2-5 seconds. The powder will stick to the hot article. Once the
article is coated, care should be taken to ensure that it does not
rub or come into contact with any surface, to prevent damage to the
coating. At this stage, a rough powdery, but uniform coating on the
article is obtained. The excess un-melted powder is shaken off with
a slight jerky motion or light tapping. The coating thickness
increases with the duration of dipping in the powder medium. In
electrostatic coating, preheating will give higher
build-up.
FUSION SINTERING
To smoothen out and provide a glossy
surface, the article is re-heated in the oven for 2-3 minutes. This
causes the powder to melt, sinter and flow out. Excessive heating
may cause the coating to dis-colour or sag. The article should be
carefully taken out of the oven, without the coating coming into
contact with any other surface and allowed to cool in a clean dust
free atmosphere. Sometimes water quenching is also resorted to, for
wire products.
INSPECTION & POST
FINISHING The thin 'wire loops', attached
earlier for handling the article, are carefully snipped off at the
base so as not to mar the appearance. The article is inspected for
pin holes or blemishes. These can be filled or repaired with a
little powder applied with a small soldering iron or a hot air
gun.
FUNDAMENTAL NOTES
The coating thickness increases with (i)
increase in temperture of the article (ii) the thickness
of the wire (iii) the duration of dipping in the powder.
Thses parameters have to be practically optimised by
"trial and error" to achieve the desired maximum and
minimum coating on the thicker and thinner wires of the
coated article. A coating thickness of 0.3 to 0.5 mm
is normally considerd sufficient. It is recommended that
the oven should have a circulating fan inside it, to
provide uniform temperature, and better heat
transfer.
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