WCA November 2008

Coatings & chemicals for wire treatment Wire coating is an extensive technology, ranging from extruded coatings for single-strand steel wire to such advanced techniques as grafted coatings for ignition wire and high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spray coatings. These coatings, and many hundreds more, must meet stringent specifications for the finished product. These properties may include, among others: predictable and homogeneous chemistry; formability and adhesion; hardness, bond strength, and corrosion protection; and friction-, wear-, and sticking resistance. Heavy demands are nothing new to wire coating professionals, which is just as well in an era of slim profit margins and closely monitored productivity. Any process that can save work or money is made to do so, and to do so again. When it was discovered that low surface roughness frequently permits easier and faster finishing, work began on eliminating the finishing step altogether. All of this perfectibility is much to impose on a coating for wire – and on the chemicals that enable the coating to do its work. Wire is made from metal. Metal is made from minerals. And all 800-plus minerals contain multiple chemical compounds in their makeup. But prodigious demands are routinely accepted by those who supply coatings and chemicals for wire treatment, a selection of whose products and services is found in this section of Wire & Cable ASIA.

Photo courtesy of Heatbath Corporation

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Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2008