Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Market Trends & Reports
    • Price Alerts
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
    • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
    • Weekly Featured Article
    • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
    • Product News
    • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
    • Additives
    • Resins/Polymers
    • Pigments
    • Equipment
    • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
    • Adhesives
    • Architectural Coatings
    • FINISHING
      • Finishing News
      • Finishing Technologies
      • Finishing Equipment
      • Finishing Today
    • Industrial Coatings
    • Nanotechnology
    • Powder Coatings
    • Solventborne
    • Special Purpose Coatings
    • Sustainability
    • UV Coatings
    • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
    • Columns
      • Ask Joe Powder
      • Did you know?
      • Distribution Dive
      • Focus on Canada
      • Formulating With Mike
      • Innovation Insights
      • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
      • Powder Coating Perspectives
      • Target the Market
      • TiO2 Insider
    • Blogs
      • Editor's Viewpoint
      • Industry Insights
    • Coatings Supplier Handbook
    • Podcasts and Videos
      • COAT-IT! Podcast
      • Videos/PCI TV
    • PCI Store
    • Classifieds
    • eBooks
    • Sponsor Insights
    • White Papers
    • COATLE Word Game
  • EVENTS
    • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
    • Paint and Coatings Academy
    • Webinars
    • Calendar of Events
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyer's Guide
    • Equipment Directory
    • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • eMagazine Archive
    • China Issue Archive
    • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe to eMagazine
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • SIGN UP!
FT Archives

Extending the Life of Bell Cups

July 1, 2007
In a typical automotive plant, bell cups must be replaced every three to four months. As a result, an automotive plant using 50 rotary bell atomizers might incur replacement costs for bell cups totaling approximately $300,000 per year. An advanced coating technology can extend the life of paint bell cups and offer a dramatic cost savings for rotary paint atomizer users.



It’s not often that an equipment investment produces a payback in six months, with direct cost savings amounting to more than 20 times the initial expenditure. But these are the results that a space-age ceramic coating for paint bell atomizers is achieving for Ford Motor Co.

Paint rotary bell atomizers have been improved over the last two decades, but the abrasive wear to the bell cups has been a lingering technical problem. With the introduction of high-solids metallic paint technologies and mica flakes to achieve brighter colors and shimmering, reflective surfaces, the useful life of bell cups has been shortened even further. It is well known and documented throughout the coatings industry that highly pigmented and aluminum-containing surface coatings are extremely aggressive on painting equipment.

In a typical automotive plant, bell cups must be replaced every three to four months. As a result, an automotive plant using 50 rotary bell atomizers might incur replacement costs for bell cups totaling approximately $300,000 per year. Moreover, bell cup failure occurs unpredictably, ruining the part’s paint finish and causing the waste of 150-200 parts per year. In addition, the process of changing the bell cups causes costly production downtime.

The key technical challenge was to find a new bell cup coating that would extend the useful life of the bell cup without causing any detrimental impact on the performance of the rotary paint atomizer.

Rotary Paint Atomizer Performance

Rotary atomizers are designed to maximize transfer efficiency, which measures the percentage of paint that ends up on the workpiece. The paint enters from the back of the bell, transfers to the wall of the bell and is electrostatically charged prior to being atomized at the edge of the spinning bell cup. The high speeds of the turbine-driven bell (spinning at 25,000 to 60,000 rpm) particulate the paint into a fine, uniform spray. Typically, titanium bell cups are used for waterborne and powder slurries, and aluminum is used for clearcoats.

The negative electrostatic charge helps attract the paint to the workpiece, which is grounded or positively charged. An additional effect of the negative electrostatic charge of the paint particles is that it causes further atomization, as the charged particles repel each other to form an even finer cloud of spray.

The high transfer efficiency of the fine, electrostatically charged spray results in paint savings of 30 to 40% over electrostatic spray guns, and the cycle time for painting each workpiece is shortened. Rotary atomizers also enable a reduction in compressed air usage of more than 20%.

In addition, the high transfer efficiency of rotary atomizers ensures excellent quality and consistent results. The environment also benefits because of the reduced paint consumption and lowered volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.

The ceramic coating protects the bell cup, even with today’s most abrasive paints.

A Space-Age Ceramic Solution

Many tribological and surface coating solutions have been tested in an effort to improve bell cup life, but all have met with limited success. The surface coatings have degraded quickly, reduced the transfer efficiency or impaired the mechanical function of the rotary atomizers.

Ford Global Paint Engineering and Ford Scientific Research Laboratories, divisions of Ford Motor Co., took on the challenge of locating and testing a low-cost, durable surface coating that would not degrade over time, reduce overall transfer efficiency, compromise customer quality or impair the mechanical functionality of the paint equipment.

The laboratories investigated the use of silicon doped amorphous carbon surface coating, a material patented by Ford. With near-diamond hardness and the conductivity of the base metal, this material proved to be ideally suited to the paint bell cup application.

The Diamonex Products Division of Morgan Advanced Ceramics worked with the Ford laboratories to enhance the coating and application processes. Morgan Advanced Ceramics applies the material with its patented plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to achieve a consistent 3-micron-thick coating that does not interfere with the mechanical or electrostatic functions of the original equipment.

Dramatic Cost Savings

The success of the silicon-doped amorphous carbon surface coating has exceeded all expectations, extending the life of the atomizers almost indefinitely. Ford still has one of the original bell cups in production, and it has been in continuous and trouble-free use for more than five years. The coating protects the bell cup, even with today’s most abrasive paints.

The coating has resulted in a significant decrease in expenditures on replacement bell cups. Ford has also documented direct improvements in painting process uniformity and vehicle quality (measured by Ford as an increase in FTT, or “First Time Through,” and a reduction in TGW, or “Things Gone Wrong”), as well as reductions in the maintenance costs relating to paint bell cups.

Ford has teamed up with Morgan Advanced Ceramics to make the ceramic coating available to original equipment manufacturers and rotary paint atomizer users. While the coating represents a slightly higher initial investment, adding 15 to 25% to the cost of a new bell cup, it can extend the life of bell cups more than 1,000% - a return on investment that is hard to match.


For more information about the new ceramic coating, call 800.433.0638, e-mail ussales@morganadvancedceramics.com or visit www.morganadvancedceramics.com.

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • pci1022-Kinaltek-Lead-1170.jpg

    A Novel Pigment Production Technology

    Following an extensive R&D program that demonstrated...
    Paint and Coating Pigments
    By: Jawad Haidar and Nitin Soni
  • pci global top 10

    2025 Global Top 10: Top Paint and Coatings Companies

    The following is PCI’s annual ranking of the top 10...
    Global Top 10 and PCI 25
    By: Courtney Bassett
  • 2025 pci 25

    2025 PCI 25: Top Paint and Coatings Companies

    PCI's annual ranking of the top 25 North American paint...
    Paint and Coating Market Reports
    By: Courtney Bassett
You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the PCI audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of PCI or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Modern arapartment complex painted in bright colors.
    Sponsored byEPS - Engineered Polymer Solutions

    Architectural Polymers Leading the Way in Coatings Innovation

  • paint sprayer in a workshop
    Sponsored byallnex

    Enabling Performance and Compliance: allnex Introduces a New Line of VOC Exempt Solvent-Borne Resins

Popular Stories

BASF SE Logo

BASF Reportedly Eyes Exit from Coatings

No. 7 BASF Coatings

BASF Comments on Potential Sale of Coatings Business

No. 3 AkzoNobel

AkzoNobel’s $1.4B Divestment Signals Strategy Shift



PCI Buyers Guide

Submit a Request for Proposal (RFP) to suppliers of your choice with details on what you need with a click of a button

Start your RFP

Browse our Buyers Guide for manufacturers and distributors of all types of coatings products and much more!

Find Suppliers

Events

September 3, 2025

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit

The Coatings Trends & Technologies (CTT) Summit is an annual conference for both liquid and powder coatings formulators and manufacturers to discuss innovations in coatings technology. This event combines high-quality technical presentations, a resource-rich exhibit hall, and dedicated networking opportunities to connect scientific minds, foster innovation, and cultivate game-changing new ideas!

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Longest-running laboratory experiment

What is the longest-running laboratory experiment?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

CTT Summit Short Courses (Live 9/3/25)

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit is expanding its offerings with four short courses. These short courses will offer an extensive day of interactive learning.

See More Products
pci voices from the top ebook

PCI CASE EBOOK

Related Articles

  • Advanced Coating Technology Extends Life Of Paint Bell Cups

    See More
  • GettyImages-980256366-1170.jpg

    Extending the Life of Precision Components in Demanding Applications

    See More
  • Coatings and New Treatments

    Coatings and New Treatments Extend The Life of Plastic Injection Molds

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • durability.jpg

    Increasing the Durability of Paint and Varnish Coatings in Building Products and Construction 1st Edition

  • handbook-of-adhesives-and-s

    Handbook of Adhesives and Sealants, Volume 1

See More Products

Related Directories

  • The Kish Co.

    Supplier - Ohio Headquarters. Supplier of premium minerals, additives, pigments and extenders. Provider of value added processing services.
×

Keep the info flowing with our eNewsletters!

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletters
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey & Sample
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Youtube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing