We were recently approached by a company that produce large casting moulds for large automotive car manufacturing firms for their spare wheel housing units and their tool sections. As experts in fluoropolymer non-stick release coatings, they wanted to see if we could help them improve the performance of their casting moulds.
The Challenge
We had a request from a customer to see if we could help them solve a problem they had of releasing polystyrene from a casting mould. The original coating in the mould had started to deteriorate, which was causing the polystyrene to stick to the cast. Not only was this causing a quality issue with regards to the polystyrene parts, but it meant that the production schedule was being hit due to required stoppages.
It was imperative to the customer that we were able to deliver a rapid turnaround as well as a high-spec quality finish. The moulds are used for long periods on a daily production schedule and require minimal delays.
OUR SOLUTION
After examining the mould castings, which were made out of aluminium, we could see that the castings were penetrated with small air holes. This was so that hot steam could be used to pop the polystyrene parts out. This meant that we had to sure that these holes were not blocked at either the surface preparation stage or the recoating stage.
After discussion with the customer, we recommended that we use 2 coats of our AFC 2108 system, which has excellent non-stick properties and outstanding release properties and can stand up to elevated temperatures. It comes in numerous colours and we were able to offer the coating in green, to fit in with their client's factory choice. The appearance of our AFC 2108 once applied has a lovely smooth waxy finish to the touch and is very durable through constant use.
The Results
After initial testing and great results, our customer's casting moulds are now performing better than the OEM coating. Unplanned stoppages have reduced, and we were also able to ensure our coating did not interfere with the small air holes.
On the back of this, we are now helping our customer progress into more avenues with our help of our release coatings.
