Plasmatreat Technology Used to Enhance Racing Skis
Plastics Decorating
The patent-pending "plasma ski" aims to make skiers faster and more successful.
Plasma Nano-Tech, the in-house research department of Plasmatreat, with North American locations in Elgin, Illinois; Belmont, California; and Ancaster, Ontario, has worked with Envipark in Turin, Italy, to develop and file a patent application for the "plasma ski," with the goal of making skiers faster and more successful.
Davide Damosso, director for innovation and development at Envipark, noted that the idea was to apply the maximum amount of absorbable wax to the running surfaces of racing skis – made from sintered UHMW-PE (ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) – to improve sliding properties and wax retention. This was achieved using a targeted plasma treatment that modifies the functional characteristics of the surface coating.
"The combination of our Openair plasma technology and PlasmaPlus atmospheric nano-coating process offered the perfect conditions for this project," says Giovanni Zambon, head of Plasmatreat's Italian subsidiary, who was responsible for supplying the plasma systems and providing Envipark with technical support during the test phase.
After nine months and 40 laboratory tests, the results have been published, with an end result of a sixfold increase in wax absorption compared with the conventional (but otherwise identical) wax impregnation method.
For more information, call 847.783.0622 or www.plasmatreat.com.