Topics surface technology

Quattroclean snow blasting technology has established itself as an economical and reliable process for the complete and partial cleaning of a wide range of components. A newly developed two-substance ring nozzle for a pulsating jet now makes it possible to realise further economic and technical advantages in CO2 cleaning.

In an open letter to Bjorn Hansen, Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency ECHA, the Zentralverband Oberflächentechnik e.V. (ZVO) comments on the study "Impacts of REACH restriction and authorisation on substitution in the EU" published by ECHA in July 2020.

In almost every industrial sector, the number and diversity of workpieces that are coated is growing. In order to be able to paint the diverse components more efficiently than before, a new technical process has been developed that applies paints over large areas or in simple patterns with sharp-edged colour edges - and without any overspray.

The share of components made of aluminium, e.g. in the field of vehicle, railway, ship and aircraft technology or in construction, has been steadily increasing for several years. In the field of mobility, for example, considerable weight savings and thus lower fuel consumption can be achieved through lightweight construction with aluminium.

A new process for metal pre-treatment is now being used successfully in Hanghzou, China. With the Betenio process, Rio GmbH has developed a genuine innovation in surface technology to series production readiness.

In the development of new special lacquers, WB Coatings came up against its limits with the hand application that had been customary up to then. This is why the globally active paint and lacquer manufacturer came up with an idea that was unusual in its industry.

In order to make steel and cast iron components more resistant for their subsequent use, they must be hardened. Depending on the hardening process, the production aids used and the intended end result, various degreasing processes are used.

In order to be able to operate a paint mist separation system in the most cost-optimised and sustainable way possible, paint shops have to take a number of requirements into account in order to select the optimum process for their operation: the dry or the wet scrubbing process.

Varnishes protect surfaces, give them new functions and refine them with special colours and haptics. UV varnishes, which score points for their environmentally friendly properties, are increasingly in demand: Since almost all their components react with each other through UV curing, virtually no VOC emissions are produced during their processing.

The steel structures at Hamburg's new "Elbbrücken" stop and transfer point for underground and suburban railway passengers are protected against corrosion and fire in the long term with coating systems.