The effects of globalization, technology improvement, capacity consolidation, and rising customer demands drive the printing and papermaking business worldwide. Consumption of paper, paperboard, and tissue exceeded 500 million tons in 2007, and it is estimated that one-third to one-half of this production is printed. Paper production in total is not experiencing drastic growth rates due to the increasing market share of digital media; however, market segments such as paperboard and packaging are showing growing demand. In printing, new technologies focus on production speed and quality improvement. For both printing and papermaking, the cost of energy and raw materials requires ongoing improvements in production efficiency. For equipment and machinery manufacturers serving these industries, high-end technology that lowers cost and improves quality drives the market leaders. In both industries, functional roll surfaces generated by thermal spraying help to achieve design and development objectives. The paper gives examples for the role of thermal spray coatings in both industrial areas.

Printing machines mirror the art of precise manufacturing and adjusting of fast moving and heavy components with an accuracy of few micrometers. In order to meet the challenge of fast and high quality printing combined with a long lifetime of the machines, the core components transporting the print substrate and the different kinds of ink and other liquids needs to be coated, what is done more and more by applying thermal spray processes. The main requirements cover wear and corrosion resistance as well as suitable wetting and special needs like the ability of laser engraving. Moreover, the coatings are post processed to achieve a sufficiently low surface roughness combined with an appropriate microstructure resulting in a fine structure if laser engraving is considered. This paper will give a review of applications, techniques and materials, which are well-established in printing industry in respect to the specific demands of the case of operation. This covers the surfaces in the printing unit namely the printing and blanket cylinders but also the inking and dampening systems.

High production rate and feed powder efficiency are critical in the HVOF hardfacing of aircraft landing gear, turbine, and actuator components traditionally electroplated with carcinogenic hard chromium. Desired improvements are hindered by rapid heat build-up in substrate component and thermal expansion mismatch between the carbide coating and steel, titanium or aluminum substrate. A new, cryogenic nitrogen gas (-195°C) cooling system has been developed which limits the thermal expansion and substrate softening problems, and enables a non-stop, gun-on-target spraying. Fully automated, the operation of the new AP LIN-Cooling System is based on thermal imaging of the entire substrate and multi-zone cooling with novel, cryofluidic nozzles. Thermal logs and images of components processed are saved by the system for quality auditing purposes. This paper presents results of industrial tests of the system during WC-10Co4Cr coating of Boeing 737 landing gear, demonstrating a 50% reduction in spraying time, corresponding reductions in the consumption of powder and HVOF gases, and additional labor savings due to the use of flexible masking, unfeasible with the traditional cooling methods. Analysis of residual stresses, structures and properties of the coating and AISI 4340 steel substrate shows that the cryogenic nitrogen cooling results in high-quality products.

Electroplated hard chromium (EHC) is widely coated onto parts to provide resistance to corrosion, wear and impact. The electroplating process, however, has significant health and environmental impacts. Air emissions during the electroplating process contain hexavalent chromium (Cr+6) - a known carcinogen, furthermore the process is energy intensive and generates hazardous waste. Because of health and environmental issues related to hard chromium plating, there have been several efforts to find alternatives. One of the more efficient technologies among the substitutes is High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying. This technology is commercially available today, with a major commercial opportunity in aerospace applications. In this paper, we therefore compare the life cycle environmental footprints of hard chromium and HVOF coatings for aircraft landing gear. Our results indicate that from an environmental perspective, HVOF spraying is generally preferable to EHC plating, with 5-10 times lower human health impacts and 30-50 times lower ecosystem impacts. However, in terms of resource consumption, the processes have similar impact profiles with EHC plating having a potential for lower impact on resources in areas with a significant share of renewable electricity.