BEGBROKE, UK — Oxford Advanced Surfaces Limited (OAS) is on target to treat one million square feet of composites with its patented Onto™ adhesion promoter that replaces sanding or abrasion for surface preparation.

By removing abrasion as a surface preparation for composites, Onto delivers improvements in quality and a reduction in processing times of up to 90%. This produces cost savings and productivity improvement.

Simple to use, Onto supports the volume manufacturing of composites in all areas of advanced manufacturing, while also being easy to use with complex shapes.

Onto is increasingly used in sectors as diverse as wind energy, aerospace and sporting goods and is enabling manufacturers to deliver large efficiencies.

Onto is being deployed very effectively by Polkima, an industry leader in Turkey producing advanced tooling solutions and finished composite parts. Anthony Gallia, Polkima Chairman, said, “Onto has enable us to reduce the labor time required to prepare parts for painting by 90%, with a huge cost saving. This allows a significant productivity improvement in our ability to paint composite parts.”

Terence Warmbier, Oxford Advanced Surfaces Head of Business Development, said, “We are well on track to hitting the 1m-square-foot milestone, and the composites industry is increasingly seeing the advantage of surface preparation without having to sand or other form of abrasion. It’s cheaper, quicker, safer and better for the environment. What’s not to like?”

The incorporation of Onto into the production process will remove the requirement for sanding prior to painting. Sanding or abrasion as a surface preparation is slow and labor intensive, risks damaging parts (over-sanding produces scrap parts) and dirty (all the dust that is removed needs to be extracted and workers need to wear respiration PPE).

The unique patented technology of Onto has already been proven in demanding applications in automotive, transportation, motorsport, defense and sporting goods, and is specifically designed to exploit the maximum potential of modern materials. It provides a practical approach to surface preparation that reduces processing time, reduces cost, improves adhesion and is easily repeatable.

Onto removes all the current issues with surface preparation with a simple process that works for composites and a wide range of engineering plastics.

Visit https://www.oxfordsurfaces.com/ for more information.