PVD Coatings - Physical Vapor Deposition
PVD stands for Physical Vapor Deposition and is a high vacuum process that applies hard coatings to improve wear and corrosion resistance. During the PVD process, solid materials (such as aluminum, titanium, and vanadium) are vaporized by an electric arc (Cathodic Arc PVD, CAPVD) or by ion bombardment (Magnetron Sputtering PVD, MSPVD). Simultaneously, reactive gases containing nitrogen and/or carbon are flowed in the chamber. These gases react with the vaporized metals forming compounds that are deposited on to the tool or component creating an array of nanocomposite coatings with unique properties. These properties include excellent adhesion, high hardness, and high corrosion resistance. IBC also offers high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technology which helps coatings to be denser, more conformal, and smoother than typical MSPVD coatings.
Benefits of PVD Coatings:
- High hardness
- High adhesion
- Low coefficient of friction
- Corrosion resistance
- Fretting resistance
- Adhesive wear resistance
- Abrasion and erosion resistance
- Excellent surface finish, mirrors that of the substrate
- Easily strippable off most materials
IBC’s Equipment:
- CAPVD chamber capacity: 45” tall x 40” diameter, 3,000 lbs
- MSPVD/HiPIMS chamber capacity: 40” tall x 30” diameter, 2,000 lbs
- Multi-axis rotation available for uniformity on complex shapes
Common PVD Applications:
- Die casting
- Metal forming, blanking, and punching
- Cutting tools
- Plastic molds and extrusion components for abrasion and corrosion resistance
- Hydraulic components – cylinders, pistons, gear pumps
- Valve components – balls, gates, seats, actuators, housings
- Automotive components – crank shafts, cam shafts, gears, bearings, piston rings, tappets, wrist pins, fuel injectors
- Pump components – impellers, diffusers, rotors
- Mechanical seals
| Coating | Process | Process Temperature (°C) | Thermal Stability (°C) | Maximum Thickness (µm) | Hardness (HV) | CoF (Dry on Steel) | Primary Applications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CeraTough®-0102 | TiAlN/CrN | CAPVD | 300-400 | 800 | 10 | 3,000-3,400 | 0.4 | Die casting, plastic injection molding, metal forming up to 980MPa |
| CeraTough®-0107 | TiN | CAPVD | 300-400 | 600 | 8 | 2,500-2,800 | 0.5 | Plastic injection molding and general wear surfaces |
| CeraTough®-0108 | TiSiVN | CAPVD | 300-400 | 1,100 | 8 | 3,300-3,600 | 0.4 | Metal forming up to 1200 MpA, blanking, piercing, trimming, stainless, cutting tools, oxidation resistance |
| CeraTough®-0201 | AlCrN | CAPVD | 300-400 | 1,100 | 8 | 3,000-3,300 | 0.4 | Metal forming, die casting, plastic injection molding, cutting tools, oxidation resistance |
| CeraTough®-0401 | VCN | CAPVD | 300-400 | 500 | 12 | 2,600-2,900 | 0.4 | Metal forming, die casting, general wear surfaces |
| CeraTough®-0402 | V+ (proprietary) | CAPVD | 300-400 | 600 | 15 | 3,800-4,000 | 0.3 | Metal forming up to 2000 MPa, >5mm thick, deep drawing |
| CeraTough®-0502 | CrN | CAPVD | 300-400 | 800 | 25+ | 2,000-2,200 | 0.4 | Plastic injection molding, non-ferrous (Cu, Al) metal forming and cutting, sliding wear, corrosion |
| CeraTough®-0504 | Low Temp CrN | CAPVD | 200-300 | 800 | 25+ | 2,000-2,200 | 0.4 | Safe for copper and aluminum molds and low temp steels |
| CeraTough®-0505 | Cr/CrN/CrOx (multilayer rainbow) | CAPVD | 300-400 | 800 | 12 | 2500-2800 | 0.4 | Extrusion of corrosive films and profiles (PVC, PVDF), co-elastomers (TPE) and rubber molding and extrusion |
| CeraTough®-0107HQ | Cold TiN-HQ | MSPVD | 100-200 | 600 | 3 | 2,000-2,200 | 0.4 | Plastic injection molding, optical surface components |
| CeraTough®-0504HQ | Cold CrN-HQ | MSPVD | 100-200 | 800 | 3 | 2,000-2,200 | 0.4 | Plastic injection molding, optical surface components |
Titanium Aluminum Nitride (TiAlN) is IBC’s premier coating for die casting. It can be applied thick and offers superb wear resistance and compatibility with molten aluminum at high temperatures. It is often paired with pre-nitriding for a “duplex” coating system to improve coating adhesion and resistance to heat check. In addition to die casting, TiAlN is used in many other applications including cutting tools and plastic injection molding.
Titanium Nitride (TiN) is used extensively in cutting tools, punches, and plastic injection molding components. It offers extremely good wear resistance in many different applications and exhibits excellent release properties in plastic processing. It is well-known for its signature gold color.
Titanium silicon vanadium nitride (TiSiVN) is used in the most demanding metal forming applications involving high strength and stainless steels. Applications include forming, punching, stamping, and more.
Aluminum Chromium Nitride (AlCrN) is a coating that offers all around great performance. It performs well in metal forming. Its high thermal stability allows it to be utilized extensively in die casting, and it exhibits excellent release properties against thermoplastics.
Vanadium Carbonitride (VCN) or “Cold TD” is a PVD coating used as an alternative to “Hot TD” coating (sometimes called “Toyota Diffusion” coating). It is used in metal forming and die casting due to its exceptional mechanical properties. Cold TD has an advantage over Hot TD because the processing remains below the steels’ tempering temperatures to avoid risk of distortion and need for re-hardening. It also offers exceptional oxidation resistance and can be used extensively in high temperature environments to protect precision components.
Vanadium Plus (V+) is a proprietary vanadium-based coating that offers next generation performance in metal forming and die casting.
Chromium Nitride (CrN) is an exceptional coating for general wear resistance. It can be applied thick (25+ microns) and even in a nano-multilayer to impart excellent erosion and corrosion resistance. It is used extensively in plastic processing, aluminum forming, and cutting tools. In addition to all of this, CrN’s compatibility with IBC’s CeraTough®-0701 Si-DLC is unmatched, outperforming any other wear combination in a great number of sliding applications.
Low Temperature Chromium Nitride (Low Temp CrN) offers the same benefits of typical CrN while being applied to tools and components made from aluminum or with lower tempering temperatures.
Chromium Nitride/Chromium Oxide (Cr/CrN/CrOx) is a nano-multilayer coating with excellent corrosion, wear, and release properties. It used effectively in extrusion of corrosive films and profiles (PVC, PVDF), co-elastomers (TPE) and rubber molding and extrusion.
Sputtered Titanium Nitride High Quality (TiN-HQ) is an extremely dense and smooth coating. TiN-HQ, there will be no particles on the surface that are inherent to regular TiN, which is applied via the CAPVD process. This makes TiN-HQ ideal for molding of optical grade plastics. In addition, its higher density improves corrosion resistance by virtually eliminating pinholes and corrosion paths to the substrate.
Sputtered Chromium Nitride High Quality (CrN-HQ) is an extremely dense and smooth coating. With sputtered CrN-HQ, there will be no particles on the surface that are inherent to regular CrN, which is applied via the CAPVD process. This makes CrN-HQ ideal for molding of optical grade plastics. In addition, its higher density improves corrosion resistance by virtually eliminating pinholes and corrosion paths to the substrate.
