Ensuring that aluminium is clean prior to surface treatments
Key Takeaways
Aluminium cleanliness is critical for optimal coating and bonding performance, as unseen surface contaminants can compromise adhesion and coating quality.
Powdertech uses XRF, Dyne inks, and UV-fluorescence to measure surface contamination and ensure compliance with RFU specification limits.
Proper cleaning prevents defects like fisheyes, pinholes, inclusions, and reticulation in powder coating, while also ensuring strong adhesive bonds in wet or demanding environments.
High cleanliness is essential for critical applications, such as EV battery assemblies, where component integrity and safety depend on reliable coatings and bonding.
Dr Nick Welton explains how we ensure that we have cleaned your aluminium to enable the best possible coating and bonding results.
We use XRF equipment, Dyne inks, and UV-Fluorescence to measure the level of aluminium surface contaminants and to demonstrate compliance with specifications detailing RFU limits.
Why do we take so much care over this measuring and cleaning prior to powder coating and adhesive bonding?
The simple reason is that surface contaminants, many that can’t even be seen, will impair the performance of any adhesive or coating applied to the metal.
Bond strengths will be unacceptably low, especially in wet environments when surface corrosion can initiate. Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) are a good example where high levels of cleanliness in the component structure are vitally important to ensuring the integrity and safety of the battery system.
For powder coating, a poorly cleaned surface can result in coating defects such as fisheyes, inclusions, pinholes, and reticulation.
We will always ensure that your metal is clean before any coating is applied.