Metal or thermal spraying is a technology that applies a variety of coating materials to protect iron and steel from corrosion through a barrier or a sacrificial coating.

Thermal spray coatings in the automotive industry are used for a variety of components on new cars, including; turbochargers, exterior panels, and EGR valves. Apart from new, mass produced vehicles, vintage cars are often restored using metal spray to repair and protect body panels.

In this Alphatek blog, we will be discussing thermal coatings, their use in the automotive industry, and the benefits of using them.

What Are Thermal Spray Coatings?

Thermal spraying is a generic category of coating processes that apply a consumable as a spray of finely divided molten or semi-molten droplets to produce a coating.

The beauty of thermal spray corrosion coatings for the automotive industry is that the size is no limitation. For this reason, several companies use metal spray coatings to apply zinc onto truck and semi-trailer chassis components.

Railway carriages, tube train wheel-sets, freight wagons and shipping containers are all commonly metal sprayed. Even railway tracks are coated to prevent corrosion in harsh locations.

What Is Thermal Spray Used For In the Automotive Industry?

There are many different applications of thermal spray coatings in the automotive industry, but you’ll commonly find the process used for turbochargers, exterior panels, EGR valves and many other internal elements of your vehicle.

There are different kinds of thermal spray technology too which may be used for different purposes as follows:

Combustion Spray

Also known as low-velocity oxygen and fuel spraying involves the projection of molten material onto the surface to create the coating. Combustion spraying is often used for repairs, efficiency enhancement and restoring the shape/dimensions of a surface or component.

Plasma Spraying

Plasma spraying is the most versatile coating in our range. A highly energetic and efficient plasma jet sprays a melted and highly accelerated ‘coating’ of particles onto the surface. It is used commonly for corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance and protection against wear and tear.

Arc-Wire Spraying

Using two electrically charged metallic wires, this type of thermal spraying involves the creation of an arc using these wires. This particular spraying method forms a very high bond strength between the coating and the surface, and the coating is usually denser than a flame sprayed version.

Protecting and prolonging the life of your vehicle and its components is entirely possible with the right thermal spray technology.

Benefits of Thermal Spray Coatings In the Automotive Industry

Non-specific to each coating, here are some of the benefits thermal spray coatings provide the automotive industry:

  • Prolongs the lifespan of automobile and engine parts
  • Improves automobile and engine performance and efficiency
  • Reduces friction, sliding, and wear rate
  • Increases engine performance and service life
  • Protects against corrosion and oxidation
  • Helps reduce fuel and oil consumption
  • Reduces heat transfer
  • Reduces carbon emissions
  • Improves fatigue strength

Automotive: Metal Spraying Solutions

Alphatek has a long and successful history providing metal spraying solutions for use in the Automotive Industry. We have provided solutions for some of the world’s most prestigious automotive brands, including Bentley, Aston Martin, and Bugatti.

Our metal spraying applications include:

Turbocharger – Naturally, the efficiency of the turbocharger can be greatly improved via the application of abradable coatings ensuring maximum efficiency.

Exterior Panels – Specialist metal finishing includes thermally sprayed coatings having numerous applications when it comes to external automotive panel designs.

EGR Valve Coatings – With the application of thermal spray coatings, the life and efficiency of EGR valves can be greatly improved, whilst reducing the mean time between failure.

We have experienced several projects, automotive-specific over the years, check out our case studies.

Get In Touch

There is always a need to achieve more with less in any industry, and companies cannot afford to lose equipment and infrastructure to unnecessary damage that could have been dealt with.

Here at Alphatek, we have developed our products and services to deliver the best value, anti-corrosion coatings solutions, first time, every time and with a stress-free service that suits everyone.

For Metal Spraying and Thermal Spray Coating in the automotive industry, look no further than us, Alphatek. You can call us directly on 01706 821 021 or email us at postbox@alphatek.co.uk.

Alternatively, if you’d like to visit us, we are located 20 miles north of Manchester. Just be wary of our opening times.