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Thermal Spray Coatings by Associated Wear Coatings

Associated Wear Coatings Inc. was established in 1984 as a full service facility for thermal spray coatings, with additional services for machining and grinding. Now, 27 years later, we still offer the best service to those needing industry-standard thermal spray coatings in Houston and surrounding areas.

Thermal spray coatings we specialize in:

• Plasma
• High velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF)
• Metallizing
• Spray and Fuse
• And more!

Where did the practice of thermal spray coatings begin?

At the turn of the century, it began as a process for coating metal parts with zinc, and was called "metalizing." The thermal spray process started becoming more popular in the USA in the 1930s. American craftsmen helped develop many more improvements to the process well into the 1950s, including ceramic spray coatings.

When the plasma flame spray process was refined, the advantage of the technique became clear to most metal manufacturers and became a standard practice. Plasma flame spraying allowed the use of materials with melting points higher than 5000F, and helped further control the hazard of oxidation during the application. Soon after around the mid 80s, the technique was renamed thermal spray coating. It was a deemed a better way to describe all the different methods and coating techniques that had been developed over the last 75 years.

In modern facilities, industrial robots are used for the process of thermal spray coatings, allowing for very uniform coverage on part configurations where this is desirable.

Why do manufacturers demand thermal spray coatings?

It is best to remember that while you can slow down the effects of wear, you can't stop it forever. Parts will eventually lose dimensionality and must be replaced or resurfaced using thermal spray coatings. The ability to apply coatings across a broad range of thickness, finish and composition requirements makes thermal spray an ideal way to protect components from being discarded prematurely.

Find out more about the facilities and capabilities of Associated Wear Coatings here.