AN OPTIMIZATION OF SPRAY COATING PROCESS TO MINIMIZE COATING MATERIAL CONSUMPTION

摘要

In cookware industry, interior spray coating process is an important process to protect the cookware product from the corrosion. In this process, the coating material "TEFLON" is used to spray to cover all the part's surface. If a pot or pan is not too deep, one spray gun is enough to spray to cover all the interior surface. However, for the high side-wall pot, two spray guns must be used to spray at two different areas. The first area is at the bottom and its corner. The second area is around the top rim of the pot or pan. Note that the spray pattern is of fan-type. Thus, the sprayed area will be covered by the mentioned two spray guns. Consequently, the large amount of coating material is consumed to meet the dry film thickness (DFT) requirement. In this paper, the optimization of spray coating process is studied aiming to minimize the material usage. The experimental design technique is applied to determine the optimal spray coating parameters. The parameters used in this study include angle, spray time, fan pattern, and air pressure. The relationship models of coating material volume and DFT are presented in this research. The optimal parameters of the two spray guns are presented.