AcuKote HVAF in a Family of Thermal Spray Processes

Thermal spray industry celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2006. Many great processes and materials have been developed and have found applications in aerospace, power generation, automotive, pulp and paper machines, steelworks, oil drilling and refinery, medical devices, electronics, and numerous other industries worldwide. We are proud to be part of this family!

Among the well-known and established thermal spray processes are: flame spraying, electric arc spraying (metallizing), plasma spraying in air (APS) and vacuum (LPPS), high-velocity oxy-fuel spraying (HVOF), detonation spraying.

The principle characteristics of each process are spray particle temperature and velocity, as achieved during coating application. They are frequently used to compare the processes. While this comparison is rather vague and schematic - particles of different materials and of different sizes are heated and accelerated very differently even using the same process, there exist widely different spraying guns for the same process, etc. - it is a good tool to understand the technological windows in thermal spray, as well as the trends in equipment and technology development.

The chart on the right demonstrates the technological windows of major thermal spray processes through the relationship between the typical spray particle temperature and velocity utilized in each process. The chart indicates that the majority of the processes require melting (often, substantial overheating) of the spray materials. To the contrary, the newest HVOF processes and the AcuKote HVAF process rely heavily on the high velocity of the spray particles, while targeting their lowest temperature.