Advertising Coating

[alexit]

Our marketing department has gone to great lengths to educate our clients to the benefits of ceramics...without actual testing. Lo and behold the ceramic parts do not show any actual improvement (other than larger commission dollars to said marketing department.)

Since we have sold this, now we must make the parts ceramic.

Anyone know of a "ceramic" coating that can be applied to hardened steel without causing a dimensional change greater than 0.002 mm? One that doe not cost more than the parts themselves (~1-2USD)?

I tried to sell the marketing types on a ferrite oxide coating but they wouldn't go for it...

 

[NickE]

That happend to me a couple years ago, you are going to have a really hard time with this one.

 

[TVP]

0.002 mm is 2 micrometers. I am not aware of any robust process for depositing ceramic layers that are 2 micrometers maximum in thickness. This sounds like an absurd project.

 

[lgearhart]

Well, a lot of PVD coatings are in that thickness range. TiN and its variations are ceramics, and the TiN is a pretty gold color too, for even classier marketing opportunities!

Some firms can deposit the PVD coatings using low substrate temperatures, so as not to overtemper your hardened steel. I subscribe to the thought pattern that higher temperature of application leads to better adhesion, so you might think about steel selection and tempering temperature.

Good luck!

 

[Goahead]

If you are not stuck with 2 microns, you might wish to investigate Sermetel-W at

http://www.sermatechinternational.com/coating/materialSerm_inorganicSEB/STW.pdf

Regards,

http://www.welding-advisers.com/

 

[unclesyd]

You might want to try a thermal diffusion coating similar to this companies offering. You could stretch this product to be a ceramic.

http://www.tdcoating.com/index.htm

Or you may want to look at this type diffusion coating.

http://www.richterprecision.com/boronizing.htm

The are also CVD coatings that are diffused causing a small increase in size, a percentage of the diffusion depth . You would have to get a very thin coating to minimize the size change.

 

[TVP]

Ah, I should have been more specific. I was thinking oxide-based ceramics, but obviously there are a number of PVD and CVD applied coatings that are ceramic based (TiN, TiAlN, AlTiN, etc.). However, the PVD process is the only one that will routinely produce coatings less than 5 micrometers thick, and at 2 micrometers or less there will be issues with adhesion and residual stresses.

 

[alexit]

Thanks to all you replied, I've contacted a bunch of vendors so far about the different processes.