Grant: Engage Grants Program

Decora Powder Coatings Ltd (DPCL) - a small Canadian company located in St. Catharines, Ontario, manufactures customized coating products for construction, automotive, residential, and aesthetic applications. Like other Canadian firms, it faces an intense global competition imposing to manufacture coating products with enhanced quality (e.g., adhesion, chemical, and mechanical properties) at low cost. This obviously calls for the development of optimized growth and processing conditions to manufacture next generation coating products with 100% yield, if possible. Currently, it powder coats ferrous and non-ferrous metals in variety of forms ranging from pre-welded tubular frames, automotive parts, to architectural panels. Unlike the liquid painting process, powder coating offers many benefits including environmental and worker safety because no solvents are needed. The company specifies that its biggest problem is adhesion of coating on architectural substrates including aluminum. Poor adhesion leads to poor product quality impacting production yield, competiveness, and ultimately company growth. The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of coating fabrication and processing parameters on adhesion, mechanical, and microstructure of as-fabricated coatings which will meet the requirements of ISO 9000 industrial applications. Increased successful coating rates will allow the the business to expand to two shifts over the present single shift operation which will provide at least 20 more high quality industrial jobs for workers in St. Catharines.