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18 June 2014

Los Angeles Metalizing Process And Equipment

By Sally Delacruz


Metalizing in general refers to all activities that entail sprinkling non-metallic surfaces with metal coat. The first occurrence of this activity was in the year 1835 in mirror making. Mirrors were therefore the first items to be produced through metallization. The high temperatures involved necessitate this process to be done inside special chambers in a controlled environment.

A vacuum chamber is used to heat the coating metal until it reaches its boiling point and boils off. Substrates are placed underneath the boiling metal so that the fine droplets from it settle down on them. When the droplets cool down, a superior coating is formed on the substrates that cannot be removed easily. Heat in the vacuum chamber is derived from plasma heating, resistance heating, or an electron beam. Los Angeles metalizing experts have developed variants of this technique for use in different applications.

One of the variants of this technique requires substrates to be heated in the place of metals. Here, the metals melt down and form even coatings on substrates which are usually heated to extremely high temperatures. The substrate involved must be able to withstand high temperatures without undergoing deformation for the method to work effectively. Superiority of resultant coatings and energy efficiency of this technique are making several companies to shift to this method.

To make the resulting bond between substrates and coating metals better the surface needs some proper preparation first. One of the techniques that have been used for long in cleaning surfaces is abrasive blasting. Blasting eliminates all kinds of dirt, metal oxides, old paint, and mould on surfaces to expose the interior surface.

There are several benefits linked to using metallization to coat surfaces as compared to the other methods. First, it has a higher ability in lessening surface corrosion from various agents. Applying heavy the coating heavily covers surfaces completely and protects them from corrosion. The cover prevents the interior of substrates from being affected by abrasive agents. Pipes used in water that moves fast a perfect example. The pipes are protected from abrasion by plating them with tough metal materials.

Vacuum metalized materials are among the best insulating materials. This primarily results from the enhanced reflectance characteristics. Instances of this are spaceships. Many layers of metalized polyimide films are used to form thermal insulation systems in spacecrafts. Other many uses can also be found in residential and commercial settings. Metallization is used to improve properties of materials making them better than they were before.

Barrier properties are also highly enhanced through metallization. For example, metalized plastic substrates have better barrier properties to air and moisture. This property finds a lot of application in industries that deal with food and packaging. Metalized surfaces also have lower abilities to transmit light making them better light barriers. Medical packaging, electronic labels, radiant barrier insulation, and window treatment are the most common cases of insulation and functional barrier applications.

The high aesthetics on products produced through this process is the reason it has several applications. Substrates are made to appear unique and reflective like mirrors. Products can also be made to look better by incorporating different colors in the process. Major applications in the sector of beauty fall under personal care packaging, merchandizing, appliance surfacing film, and label stocks.




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