Powdercoat is evil?

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Kev L
Posts: 11288
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:57 pm
Location: Hertford, England

Powdercoat is evil?

Post by Kev L »

Have a look at the pictures in this link, scarey or what. Personally I find it hard to believe that powdercoating can cause this. I have had a number of wheels, frames etc PC'd with no adverse effects but something has damaged them and the owner was adamant that no impact was involved -
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/commu ... -id=365298
8O
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benny hedges
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Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2009 5:09 pm
Location: Warrington

Re: Powdercoat is evil?

Post by benny hedges »

many years ago i worked for british aluminium in the labs doing destructive testing on alloys....
i would sample each batch of metal of different extruded shapes and turn them down to a uniform barbell shape or for flat shapes a measured strip was used...
these pieces then went onto a huge pulling rig that measured the tensile strength, hardness and fail point of each sample...
i like breaking stuff! :twisted:

some of the stuff i learned - aluminium doesnt show its heat like other metals... ie it can be Very hot and it looks the same as when its cool, unlike steel & copper etc! got burned a few times lol.

i was surprised at the low temps needed to alter the state of the metal... 260 - 350c for 1/2 - 3hrs will aneal (soften) most aluminium alloys.

450+ for similar times will harden it like glass, making it very brittle.

the cool down times are also very crucial.... you cant cool it too slow or too fast or it will affect the temper of the metal.

most powder coating processes run at 160 - 200c and the components are usually hung on a travelling conveyor and are in & out in less than 15 mins start to finish, then cooled down in ambient air...

i really cant see how powder coating at these temps would affect the properties of the parts... maybe they were flawed already, or are a magnesium alloy which is different again?

ally properties also do change with age of the metal... so this could be another factor.
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