Fluidized Bed Polymeric Coating of Large Steel Missile Container

摘要

The work described in this report is part of an overall program to improve the corrosion resistance of steel munitions containers, which are exposed to the hazards of world-wide handling, shipping, and storage. In general, the program includes two approaches: more durable coatings; and the fabrication of containers from low-alloy steels offering a greater resistance to oxidation. The part of the program reported on involved the search for a better method of coating, using the fluidized bed process. In this process the object to be coated is pre-heated, then immersed in an air-suspended bed of finely divided, powdered polymer, resulting in the fusing of the polymer to the heated object. A cylindrical Littlejohn steel missile container, approximately 100 inches long and 25 inches in diameter, was coated by the fluidized bed method. Up to the present time, this container is the largest object that has been coated by this process. In spite of application problems and increased costs as compared to painting, tests to date indicate that the process holds promise as a more durable method of coating munitions containers. (Author)