Intelligent Gun Technology: Reducing Costs with EvoLink in R&D and Operations

A new technology has been introduced to measure process variables as well as to store gun-relevant data directly inside a thermal spray gun. This paper describes how this technology helps to reduce cost on the areas of process quality, maintenance and coating development. Test series have been carried out proofing reduced failure costs by detecting erroneous spray system configuration and functionality. Another section describes a cost decrease of maintenance prevention by intelligently using gun data. Additional test series show a cost reduction in parameter development in case of parameter transport to different thermal spray systems.