Most of the powder coatings I've seen require a decent amount of work to
remove. There are different products but I'm not totally familiar with the
range of coatings available but I have read that some powdercoats have a
high enough bake temperature that it will undo the heat treating on aluminum
parts. For aluminum applications, lower-temperature powdercoats are
available, and it's possible that these have a lower abrasion resistance
than the high-cure-temperature coatings.
In Engineer to Win, Carroll Smith speaks out against excessive finish
coatings on highly stressed parts, especially because of the hidden-crack
problem. From a corrosion point of view though, if a clean part (even if
it's got some surface oxidation) gets 100% coverage with a powder coat or
epoxy paint, it would be tough for new corrosion to begin underneath it
unless the finish cracks.
Best regards,
Theo
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