INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF ZIRCONIUM BASED NANO COATING BEFORE ELECTROSTATIC POWDER COATING ON MECHANICAL STRENGTH, ADHESION AND CORROSION PERFORMANCE OF ELECTROSTATIC POWDER COATING

Considering the areas in which they are used, many materials used today spend their lives under the damaging effects of the challenging conditions of their environment. Especially considering high humidity conditions, these challenging conditions can lead to irreversible damage. Considering various environmental conditions, corrosion rate and propagation are affected. At least one of the environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, salt, industrial machine oils, chemical gases, and particles in the air exist as corrosive in the usage areas of the materials and affect the surface of the materials. In order to reduce this effect, many manufacturers prefer one of these coatings such as galvanized coating, anodized coating, chemical surface coating, and electrostatic powder paint coating. However, these coating methods alone are not sufficient to increase the service time against destructive effects in some cases. Some manufacturers consider the mechanical effects of the metal materials used in industrial applications, the corrosion-increasing elements, and the oxidation tendency of the materials, and additionally employ several application methods together in order to increase the resistance against the pressure they are exposed to. Especially today, when the coating methods and industrial conditions are evaluated, manufacturers have added chemical nano-coating materials to the surface preparation processes before electrostatic powder coating. There are already a number of chemical applications applied before electrostatic powder paint coating in order to increase adhesion and corrosion resistance. One of them is iron phosphate coating, which is the oldest and most primitive surface preparation method known today. The main use of the product is to increase the adhesion quality of the powder paint by creating a thin phosphate layer on the material surface. In most cases, metals are resistant to corrosion and do not normally require additional protection. However, when environmental factors are considered, more protection and a new method brought by new technology are required, especially in environments where humidity can be high. This study, it is aimed to extend the quality and service life of the electrostatic powder paint coating to be applied on metals by using zirconium nano coating in the surface preparation process before paint coating. For this, TS EN ISO 12944 standard evaluation will also be taken as a basis. As a result of the study, impact, strength, adhesion, salt test, etc. experiments will be carried out. In the tests to be made, the type of corrosion on the paint will be examined. It is aimed to increase the service life of the products in chemical and humid conditions with powder coating, which is seen as one of the metal protection methods. The product and types used as a coating method will also be graded for their lifetimes. For many businesses, the work to be done will provide a basis for the right product to be preferred and the proper work to be done. With the right product supply to meet the need, it will also keep companies away from production, materials, workmanship, and any damages that may occur. In order to ensure the study, metals will be preferred first. It will be prepared in suitable dimensions for the tests to be made on the metals to be supplied. A protective coating will be chosen on the metals and the adhesion quality will be increased with this nano-coating material. Then, powder coating will be applied to the material whose surface preparation processes have been completed, and after painting, an examination will be made showing the surface quality and appearance of the products. After the examinations, the samples will be sent to companies that have test calibration certificates.