Sunday, June 29, 2014

Los Angeles Metalizing Process And Equipment

By Sally Delacruz


Metalizing in general refers to all activities that entail sprinkling non-metallic surfaces with metal coat. The first occurrence of this activity was in the year 1835 in mirror making. Mirrors were therefore the first items to be produced through metallization. The high temperatures involved necessitate this process to be done inside special chambers in a controlled environment.

A vacuum chamber is used to heat the coating metal until it reaches its boiling point and boils off. Substrates are placed underneath the boiling metal so that the fine droplets from it settle down on them. When the droplets cool down, a superior coating is formed on the substrates that cannot be removed easily. Heat in the vacuum chamber is derived from plasma heating, resistance heating, or an electron beam. Los Angeles metalizing experts have developed variants of this technique for use in different applications.

One of the variants of this technique requires substrates to be heated in the place of metals. Here, the metals melt down and form even coatings on substrates which are usually heated to extremely high temperatures. The substrate involved must be able to withstand high temperatures without undergoing deformation for the method to work effectively. Superiority of resultant coatings and energy efficiency of this technique are making several companies to shift to this method.

The surface however needs to be prepared properly before the process is done to promote the bond formed between the surface and the coating metal. Abrasive blasting is one of the methods that have been used for a long time to clean surfaces. It removes all kinds of dirt, old paint, mould, and metal oxides formed on the surface exposing the pure interior.

Metallization has several advantages in the modern world. First, it plays an important role in reducing surface corrosion. Applying heavy coatings ensure that the surface being coated is completely covered from the outside. The cover ensures that the interior of the substance does not get affected by the abrasive environment. Pipes that are installed in fast-moving water are a good example. The pipes are plated with tough metal substances to protect them from abrasion.

Vacuum metalized substrates form effective insulators. This results primarily from the improved reflectance properties. An example of this is in spaceships. Several layers of polyimide films produced through vacuum metallization are used in spacecrafts as thermal insulation systems. Other several applications are also in residential and commercial settings. Metallization enhances properties of surfaces making them better.

Metallization also enhances barrier properties. For example, metalizing a plastic substrate makes it a better barrier to moisture and air. This is a very important application in food and packaging industries. Since the metalized surface also has lower light transmission capability, it also forms a better light barrier. Common cases of functional barrier and insulation applications are in medical packaging, window treatment, electronic labels, and radiant barrier insulation.

The high aesthetics on products produced through this process is the reason it has several applications. Substrates are made to appear unique and reflective like mirrors. Products can also be made to look better by incorporating different colors in the process. Major applications in the sector of beauty fall under personal care packaging, merchandizing, appliance surfacing film, and label stocks.




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