A business unit of Curtiss Wright Surface Technologies, E/M Coating Services (based in Evesham, UK) develops and applies technical surface coatings to components from diverse industrial sectors. Applications range from small pins for seat belts to tonne-scale valve blocks for subsea Christmas trees (oil wells) and fan blades for aero engines. What unites these applications is the need for a surface coating that has a closely specified wear profile, corrosion resistance and/or frictional characteristics.
As part of E/M Coating Services’ (EMCS) strategy of continuous development, the company recently conducted a project to assess certain proprietary coatings for food and pharmaceutical applications. To support this work, testing was carried out in collaboration with Freeman Technology using its FT4 Powder Rheometer®, which enables precise and highly reproducible dynamic, shear and bulk property testing. Determination of the wall friction angles of the coatings, using a range of different powders, allowed an assessment of their effectiveness for improving powder flow performance within a hopper or other piece of processing equipment.