Metallisation, UK, has developed a durable non-slip thermally sprayed coating called 28E Arctec. It is a reinforced aluminum-based non-slip coating ideal for flooring areas, bridge decks, escalators, steel floors, and panels across a range of industries. It can be applied with a rough texture and has excellent non-slip properties, while being extremely hard and resistant to wear and corrosion.
28E Arctec is applied by the Metallisation arcspray process with the ARC 140 system. In the arcspray process, the raw material, in the form of a pair of metallic wires, is melted by an electric arc. This molten material is atomized by a cone of compressed air and propelled towards the work piece. Upon contact, the particles flatten onto the surface, freeze, and mechanically bond, first onto the roughened substrate, and then onto each other as the coating thickness is increased.
Coating thickness can range from around 50 microns up to several hundred microns or even millimeters for some metals. Typically, metal-sprayed corrosion protection coatings vary from 100 to 350 microns.
There have been a number of recent successes with 28E Arctec, and many trials are being conducted to evaluate effectiveness against more traditional non-slip surfaces. A local UK Council has opted for 28E to coat 150 of its manhole covers. The covers were metal sprayed with 100 microns of aluminum before being coated with 300 microns of 28E. This is the standard specification for external applications, offering unsurpassed corrosion resistance and durable grip to ferrous items.
