To redress the negative perceptions of thermal spraying in some market sectors in Africa and to increase the awareness of its uses, the Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) will bolster the position of thermal spraying through its newly launched Thermal Spray Association of Southern Africa (TSASA), which is being run as a subcommittee within the SAIW.

There has been much interest from thermal spray job shops, suppliers to the industry, academic institutions and end- users, which has helped the association gain momentum.

Over the past decade, the Southern African thermal spray industry has developed a negative reputation, owing to incorrect thermal spray applications and some poor-quality work being undertaken in the past, resulting in stagnated growth for the industry in Southern Africa, says SAIW technical services manager Sean Blake.

This stagnant position is evident in the lack of new applications for thermal spray in Africa, as used successfully internationally, and inadequate investment in capital equipment and technology updates; thus, one of the directives of the TSASA is to improve the image of the industry and enforce international quality standards, says Blake.

The thermal spray industry and the SAIW realised that the African industry could significantly benefit from a local thermal spray association, which led to the establishment of the association at the end of 2012.

As part of the approach to increase the thermal spray industry’s awareness of the association, the institute aims to improve the industry’s knowledge of thermal spraying through education and the marketing of the technology and its applications.

The use of thermal spray coatings is diverse and applications include wear- resistant and corrosion protective coatings, hard chromium plating replacements, di-electric coatings, electrically conductive coatings, thermal barrier coatings, food processing equipment coatings, medical instrument device coatings, electromag- netic interference and radio frequency interference shielding, traction control coatings and nonstick coatings.

Blake tells Engineering News that the primary objective of the TSASA is to imple- ment existing internationally accepted standards in the industry, which will ensure that end-users obtain a high and consistent quality. This will also redress the negative perception that the industry currently has in Southern Africa. The association also wishes to develop the Southern African thermal spray industry so that it is on par with others worldwide.

Further, the association aims to ensure that TSASA members receive tangible benefits, that existing international standards are adopted and that all stakeholders are continuously educated through local conferences, workshops and exhibitions.

The TSASA also aims to engage with research and development organisations in South Africa.

The association will focus on safety improvements for operators and the environment, communicate quality requirements to the industry, create a technical source of information, develop a certification programme and enforce the standardisation of approvals and standards.

Integrated advisory programme applications will also be developed within every industry sector, including those of mining, power generation, petrochemicals, oil and gas, pulp and paper, printing, metal processing, aircraft and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, owing to a complementary relationship between welding and thermal spraying, the SAIW’s metallurgical testing laboratory, at its head office in Johannesburg, will service not only the welding industry, but also the thermal spray industry. This will include evaluation services to ensure high-quality thermal spraying and the marketing of thermal spray technology to enhance knowl- edge of thermal spraying in the industry.

Blake says poor-quality thermal spray products do exist in the market, but that the bulk of available products are functioning to the required standards.

He also maintains that there are cases where thermal spray is a more suitable technology than welding and, therefore, a preferred choice. In this instance, the association must ensure that the industry understands the importance of using thermal spray accordingly and, as a result, facilitate the development and integration of thermal spraying as an alternative market in Southern Africa.

Blake believes that the small thermal spray industry in Southern Africa should be bigger and more extensively represented than it currently is, as thermal spraying is not an irrelevant industry in Africa.

“While thermal spraying plays a big part in the international aerospace industry, an industry which is small in Africa, thermal spraying has many other applications in Africa. Our power generation, petrochemi- cals and refining industries will especially benefit from thermal spraying and are the continent’s largest industries,” says Blake.

The association aims to attract as many contributing members as possible to build a broad base of interested parties for the TSASA. This will ensure a balanced manage- ment committee in terms of representation for academia and industry, including users and suppliers of services and products.

Blake says the association already has a core group of people who are interested in being members. This group includes job shops, product suppliers, academic institutions, end-users and other associations that are affiliated with the thermal spraying industry or which have the same objectives.

Further, affiliation will be sought with organisations such as global source for thermal spray information the Thermal Spray Society and European thermal spray association Gemeinschaft Thermische Spritzen e.V (Thermal Sprayers Association – Germany).

Meanwhile, a conference or seminar, which is planned for early next year, will also serve as a springboard to promote the objectives of the TSASA in developing thermal spray technology in the local market and to raise interest and awareness about the technology.

It will also ensure that all service providers adhere to the highest standards possible for the positive re-enforcement of these technologies.

Details pertaining to the conference are yet to be finalised.