Flame spraying is a type of thermal spraying used to protect substrates from external environments. This thermal spray is the original method that has been used across industries for over 100 years.
Developed over the years, was and still is a very popular method of thermal spraying. With its origin spanning longer than other methods, flame spraying is a very simple way of depositing coatings onto a substrate.
In this Alphatek Blog, we have dived into what is flame spraying, how it works, and the advantages and disadvantages it has on the substrate depending on the environment it is exposed to.
How Does Flame Spraying Work?
The flame spraying process is created by a chemical reaction between a fuel of combustion and oxygen. That is then put into the nozzle of a heat gun/machine in the form of a wire and compressed by air before shooting onto the substrate. If you use a powder flame spray, the powder particles are softened by the flame before they are coated by the flame gases and accelerated through the nozzle.
What Is Flame Spraying Used For?
Flame spraying is widely used where a cost-effective thermal spray coating is desired, and lower quality can be tolerated.
- Corrosion protection; structures and components
- Reclamation worn shafts, particularly of bearing areas with materials such as stainless steel or bronze alloys
- The surface coatings produced are porous and lubricants can be absorbed into the coating, enhancing the performance of the bearing.
Aluminium, zinc, stainless steel, bronze, low carbon steel, nickel-based materials, molybdenum.
Typical applications that need the benefits of flame spray can be split into two different categories – Anti-corrosion coatings and engineering coatings.
What Are The Advantages Of Flame Spraying?
The utilisation of the flame spraying process allows the spraying of a wide variety of metallic or ceramic coatings onto a large range of component materials where good wear resistance and excellent impact resistance are required.
As thermal spray specialists, flame spraying provides multiple benefits:
- Cost-Effective – In comparison to other methods of thermal spraying, flame spraying is one of the most cost-effective solutions.
- Low Dust And Fume Levels – Dust and fume levels are lower than those associated with arc spraying, and noise levels are lower than those found with plasma and HVOF spraying. The process can be used without a spray booth if adequate dust extraction is provided.
- Price Of Equipment – Equipment costs are much lower than in comparison to HVOF and plasma spraying. The lower consumable costs and relatively high deposition rates mean that the deposited coating costs are much lower than for most other thermal spraying processes and comparable with those for arc spraying.
What Are The Disadvantages Of Flame Spraying?
As with any product you have limitations to what it can achieve, and flame spraying is no different. If your business, sector, or product requires something this method of spraying can’t achieve, we have multiple other metals and thermal spraying solutions so I wouldn’t class it as a disadvantage. I would say this specific coating, the flame spray isn’t for your needs.
- Difficult To Coat Restricted Areas – Most thermal spraying processes, require a line of sight to the surface to coat. This means it can be difficult to coat restructured surface areas or inner surfaces with a smaller diameter.
- Lower Quality – In comparison to other thermal spray coatings, flame spraying has a lower quality finish. In less demanding environments, flame spraying is perfect.
Alphatek: Thermal Spraying Specialists
For Metal Spraying and Thermal Spray Coating specialists, look no further than us, Alphatek.
Working closely with our customers over the years, we have developed our products and services to deliver the best value, most effective metal spray coatings solution, first time, every time and with a stress-free service that suits everyone.
We have a hard-earned reputation for supplying:
- Great value,
- Reliable and effective solutions
- Solutions of the Highest Quality
In fact, the quality of our work has been accredited to ISO9001:2015.
You can call us directly on 01706 821021, or you can 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.
