The Zircotec^® Coatings

Zircotec has developed a range of ultra high performance plasma-sprayed coatings to protect components from the effects of heat, wear and corrosion. Our key products are:

ZircoFlex^TM - a revolutionary flexible ceramic heat shield material offering superb thermal barrier performance at minimal weight and minimal thickness. ZircoFlex^TM is supplied in the form of a roll, and is easily cut and installed. With patents pending, ZircoFlex^TM is believed to be the first ever flexible ceramic heat shield material.

ThermoHold^® for Composites - a range of coatings that are plasma sprayed onto carbon composite (and some plastics) as heat shielding, to offer fire resistance, and protect against delamination and resin melt. Additionally, we apply coatings that are resistant to wear, abrasion and stonechips. Adopted widely in F1, and with patents pending, our technology is now attracting significant interest from a range of other industries.

Performance White^TM - a ceramic coating that offers the ultimate in thermal barrier performance for a range of applications. A derivative of Zircotec's proprietary ThermoHold^® formulation, this product has been developed to significantly reduce heat transfer and offer lightweight easily packaged coatings that can be used for a broad range of applications. Now the mainstay of Zircotec's offering to motorsport, primarily as an exhaust coating or exhaust manifold coating, where it is used to minimise heat loss to the engine compartment.

Performance Colours^TM - 14 coloured derivatives of our proprietary ThermoHold^® based technology, offering the same high levels of performance as Performance White^TM but with a choice of coloured finish. Used primarily as exhaust coatings, or exhaust manifold coatings, these coatings are suitable for both car and bike applications where heat transfer from the exhaust system is a problem.

Primary Range^TM - a lower cost alternative to our Performance Range, with only a slightly lower level of performance, but still very much a high quality Zircotec ceramic coating delivered in an atractive matt black finish. It is again applicable to both cars and bikes as an exhaust coating, or exhaust manifold coating.

Diamond Black^TM - a ceramic coating specially formulated by Zircotec to balance thermal performance with the need for an extremely tough and durable finish. It is superbly tough, making it ideal for exposed locations where abrasion or severe stone chipping might otherwise be an issue.

Ceramic Fabrications Zircotec has the technology and know how to be able to manufacture some extremely complex ceramic structures. An example of how we use this expertise is our manufacture of ultra high purity ceramic furnace linings (Susceptor Tubes) for the optical fibre industry.

Click here to go to our customer feedback page to see what our previous customers have said about Zircotec and its coatings.

Zircotec's areas of expertise

• Plasma-sprayed ceramic coatings for metals and composites, including carbon fibre composite

• Thermal management in motorsport, OEM, high performance cars and motorcycles, track day and classic cars.

• Thermal management in numerous other demanding applications.

• The application of surface coatings to protect against wear, abrasion and corrosion.

We supply a range of:

• thermal barrier coatings; exhaust coatings; exhaust manifold coatings; engine coatings; turbo charger housing coatings; exhaust header coatings & heat shield materials.

• wear resistant, anti-corrosion and/or aesthetic coatings, finished in either ceramic or metal.

• carbon composite coatings - offering thermal protection, wear resistance and/or aesthetics.

• specialist plasma-sprayed ceramic products.

Applying Zircotec's high temperature thermal barrier coatings to these components can:

• Reduce underbonnet temperatures by up to 50^oC (122^oF), as independently measured & confirmed by DAMAX Race Engineering; click here for details.
  
• Increase engine performance, eg. just a 30^oCdrop in intake air temperature can deliver a 6% increase in power, orcan alternatively be used to deliver increased engine efficiency andhence less fuel usage.
• Enhance engine reliability - lower temperatures help to avoid the failure of critical engine components, eg. electronics.
• Extend the life of vulnerable components.

Our coatings are highly effective when used on engine exhaust system components including exhaust manifolds, exhaust headers, cat boxes, turbochargers and tail pipes, helping to protect heat sensitive components from the effects of heat. They reduce underbonnet temperatures, increase engine performance, help solve engine packaging issues and improve engine compartment safety. Based on Zircotec's proprietary ThermoHold^® formulation, these coatings can only be applied by Zircotec. Furthermore, patent applications have been filed to protect many of our coatings.

For any heat barrier and thermal management issues, Zircotec's technical specialists can provide advice no matter how demanding the requirements. Zircotec's specialists can also provide expert advice on a range of surface engineering issues.

Background

Formerly part of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Zircotec's hightemperature ceramic coatings, processes and technologies were originally developed for the UK nuclear industry. Most of our team of specialist scientists and engineers have followed Zircotec from its nuclear origins. They have continued to develop and refine Zircotec's high temperature coatings resulting in the high technology products that we supply today. Our technical development work is ongoing and continues to deliver new and improved products.

Zircotec's involvement in motorsport stretches back to 1994 when its proprietary ceramic coatings were first applied to rally cars. Our thermal coatings have been used across almost all forms of motorsport, they have been proven to be highly successful in the thermal management of high performance and classic car applications, increasing overall reliability and performance, and our coatings are now used on a broad range of vehicles from F1 cars to a number of production cars, trucks and buses. Additionally our coatings are now being applied to a range of performance parts for OEM's and also after market suppliers.