Ceramic Coating Myths
Even though ceramic coatings have been utilised in the automotive industry for decades, with numerous coating technologies developed over the years in conjunction with Motorsport Teams & Automotive OEMs. Ceramic coatings for heat management can be confusing from time to time, in this blog we will be addressing the biggest myths around thermal barrier ceramic coatings.
Our polymer ceramic coatings are deposited via wet-spraying application and used as a thermal barrier for extremely high temperatures applications. Our poylmer ceramic coating’s core function is to improve vehicle performance by reducing surface temperatures of the part, ensuring engine bays are protected from unwanted heat. In turn our coating solutions retain the heat inside the exhaust system, maintaining the exhaust gas flow speed, improving engine performance and efficiency.
In addition to performance improvements, our ceramic coatings also offer several benefits including:
- Lower engine bay temperatures
- Improved engine reliability
- Protection of surrounding components
- Rapid cooling of the exhaust when the engine is turned-off
- Increased part durability through corrosion resistance
- Aesthetics upgrade
and more…
Here’s the fun part, we’re now going to bust the 3 most common myths around thermal barrier ceramic coatings.
Myth #1 “The coating is brittle.”
The word “ceramic” is often associated with brittleness, as from a day-to-day perspective ceramics are used in crockery and tiles, which are known to be hard, but can be easily fractured under stress. However, our ceramic coating does not provide a brittle finish, it therefore does not break/fracture easily under stress. Our polymer-ceramic is deposited via wet-spraying application, where is atmospheric pressure, composition and other parameters are varied to create a stable bond between the substrate and coating. The microstructure of our ceramic coating is very different to the day-to-day ceramics’ microstructure, which is made up of variable grain sizes with constrained dislocation movement, making it brittle. Our polymer-ceramic is deposited via a wet-spraying application, where atmospheric pressure, composition and other parameters are optimised to create a stable bond between the substrate and coating. P1C Coatings are designed to have high adhesion and flexibility which allows them to withstand extremely high temperatures, intensive thermal cycling and the ability to expand with the coated exhaust parts, reducing the risk of drastic failure.
Myth #2 “It’s applied by dip-coating.”
Our ceramic coating is often mistaken to be applied by the industrial immersion coating method – often referred to as ‘dip coating’, as it is often the answer to coating complex geometries, and relatively cheaper when used in mass production. However, dip coating would not provide the exact microstructure that’s required in the microstructure for these very high temperature uses. Spraying applciations provide a much higher quality and even finish as opposed to dip coating. This makes it much more aesthetically pleasing, suitable for vehicle decorative applications when coated parts are exposed to exterior.
Metal structures being dip-coated.
Myth #3 “It loses its thermal barrier performance overtime.”
Our coating is known to be very durable, with customers using it on both road and track for years on end without a drop in performance! As our coatings are durable and long-lasting, its thermal barrier performance in turn does not decrease over time when the polymer ceramic deposition layers still fully intact, offering its ultra-high level thermal performance over a long time. For our customers’ peace of mind, we offer a 1 year guarantee.
Performance 1 Coating’s wet-spray application process.
Follow our blog posts closely for more myth busting and evidence-based technology for your car / bike, and feel free to contact us to ask us anything!