Electrical

Thermal spray applications in the electrical and electronic industry

As metal spray or thermal spray coatings are typically pure metallics with no binders, the are very well suited to applications in the electrical and electronic industry.

One of the very common applications that has been undertaken for over 4 decades is the spraying of capacitor ends. In the manufacture of thin film capacitors, the end faces are commonly sprayed with zinc or tin/zinc alloys. The purpose of the coating is to connect the layers of the metallic foils together and also to give a sturdy, robust layer to make soldered wire connections to the capacitors.

Coatings are often several hundred microns thick. One of the main benefits of the thermal sprayed coatings are that only small amounts of heat are transferred to the capacitors, meaning there is no damage to the plastic film part. Capacitors of varying sizes are commonly sprayed, from small lighting capacitors up to large, power capacitors.

The conductivity of thermal sprayed coatings is also used to help connection to resin resistors/insulators or graphite heating rods where aluminium or aluminium bronze coatings are very commonly applied.

As well as conductivity, thermal sprayed ceramic coatings can be used for their electrical insulation properties. Ceramics such as alumina can be applied by plasma spraying or powder flame spraying to create a non-conductive layer.

One further electrical application is to spray Faraday cages to protect against electro-magnetic emissions. There are many applications of switch boxes being sprayed and more exciting is the use of electrical coatings in radio-rooms of mine-sweeping boats made from GRP.

Corrosion is also an issue in the electrical industry and commonly coatings of zinc, aluminium or their alloys are applied by flame spray or arc spray to steel electrical switch boxes or transformer housings to prevent from the onslaught of corrosion.

electrical-coatings

Application Data Sheets

cropped-metalisation-device

Earthing of Resin Insulators Using Arcspray

Reason for use: To produce a integral earth screen Download PDF Related Products Arcspray 145/S345-CL View Product Arcspray 340(16)-PLC View Product Arcspray 528E(16)-ICC View Product The high voltage resin insulators required when using switchgear between 3.2 KV and 38KV can sometimes give rise to problems of air ionisation between metal components and the resin insulators. This ionisation is due to the corona or electrical discharge appearing around the surface of the charged conductor being insulated. It is possible to counteract…

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cropped-metalisation-device

Earthing of resin insulators using the flamespray process

Reason for use: To produce a integral earth screen Download PDF Related Products MK73-FS Wire Flame View Product The high voltage resin insulators required when using switchgear between 3.2 KV and 38KV can sometimes give rise to problems of air ionisation between metal components and the resin insulators. This ionisation is due to the corona or electrical discharge appearing around the surface of the charged conductor being insulated. It is possible to counteract this problem by using the Metallisation Flamespray…

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Capacitor Ends Metallisation

Metal spraying of capacitor ends

Reason for use: Electrical conductivity Download PDF Related Products Arcspray 145/S345-CL View Product Arcspray 340(16)-PLC View Product Arcspray 528E(16)-ICC View Product The most common type of capacitor in use today is the foil-wound type. A thin film of metal, 1µm, is deposited on one side of a thin, 2.5 – 14µm, polymer film di-electric leaving one edge uncoated. The film is wound around a central insulating core to form a ‘swiss roll’ with the uncoated edges staggered to permit the…

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Example Applications

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