Titanium bells give longer life

Titanium bells give longer life

Keywords Durr,Spray deposition, Titanium

Jaguar Cars has replaced the aluminium bell discs in its colour paint spraying machines with new technology titanium discs developed by Durr Systems. While retaining the same lightweight qualities, titanium is a harder wearing metal which gives a far longer operational service life when used with externally charged waterborne basecoat and mica based paints.

Rotary atomisers are commonly used in automotive paint systems as they provide the most efficient means for spraying colour basecoat and final clearcoat finishes. In operation the spray mist is produced by centrifugal forces acting on the edge of the bell disc together with a gentle flow of shaping air.

The performance of the disc is critical to the product finish quality. Waterborne basecoat colour paints, and, in particular, metallic paints are very abrasive which means that the performance of the disc can deteriorate over a period of time, leading to an increasing risk of air entrapment and pin hole imperfections in the sprayed paint film.

Being a harder material titanium discs do not need to be replaced so often which reduces operating and maintenance costs. Another benefit is that the longevity of the titanium bell disk's operating life cycle ensures consistent high quality demanded of the paint process.

"It was a logical choice,"says Jaguar production engineer, Tony Chatwin, adding: "We are getting around four times the life span with titanium bell compared to aluminium. And we are maintaining the quality over that full time period.

"A new aluminium disc and a new titanium disc will both provide the same performance in spraying and atomisation and lay down. The titanium disc simply goes on for longer giving us a greater margin of confidence in achieving full quality between extended maintenance periods."

Details from APT Division,Durr Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 1926 418800; Fax: +44 (0) 1926 400679.