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Thermal Spray Coated Parts | Proper Methods to Package and Ship
Thermal Spray Coated Parts | Proper Methods to Package and Ship
Packaging and shipping operation is usually the last in line in any manufacturing facility. While care needs to be exerted in any packaging and shipping operation, it becomes especially important for thermal spray coatings facilities to pay added attention to this step. Thermal spray coatings can get damaged in shipping and transit by way of nicks and chips and once the coating gets damaged, it will have to get stripped and recoated or in limiting cases, the entire part will have to get rejected. Thermal spray coatings such as tungsten carbide and chrome carbide are usually extremely hard and prone to chipping if they get banged or otherwise mechanically impacted during transit from the thermal spray coating facility to the customer. Hence it is important to have proper documented packaging and shipping procedures for thermal spray coated parts.
Always pack small coated parts by individual bubble
wrap on each part. The exception to this is when using compartmentalized plastic boxes. These enable individual coated components to be located in their own space without banging or hitting against their neighboring parts. Being made of plastic, they will not damage the coating or the component bodies themselves. This is especially important for aerospace hardware, since nicks and dents in aerospace hardware can cause stress raisers and such defects can reduce the fatigue life of these components. Larger parts that are not amenable to compartmentalized packing or individual bubble wrap packing, can be packed with foam in place type packaging. In this case, the coated part is placed in a box and foam material is formed around it thereby the packing material forms a contour around the part in question. This is the best method to package larger parts which may have snap diameters, outside diameters, bosses and the like that may have been thermal sprayed. Very large parts that are thermal sprayed usually simply get strapped to a wooden pallet for transportation by truck. Ensure that strapping is secure and tight and that the strapping material does not come in direct contact with the thermal spray coated area. Using a piece of cardboard between the strapping material and the component at points of contact is recommended. During transportation, avoid stacking parts since damage can be caused if the topmost stacked box or component falls down. Some thermal spray coated components can be very expensive, both in terms of original value and the value incurred in the process of coating, and so protecting both the coating and the component from packaging and shipping damage by way of well established written procedures as well as proper training of shipping personnel is not only important but also good manufacturing practice.
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