PVD Coating

Physical Vapour Deposition or PVD coatings have made their mark on the manufacturing industry mainly though the cutting tool market. Although this market still remains the biggest application for these coatings, their excellent properties of hardness, low friction and excellent wear resistance can be taken advantage of in many other tooling and component related applications.

We can offer the follow standard type PVD coatings:

• Titanium Nitride (TiN)
• Titanium Aluminium Nitride (TiAlN – Futura NANO) and Aluminium Titanium Nitride (AlTiN)
• Chromium Nitride (CrN) 
• Titanium Aluminium Carbo-Nitride (TiAlCN) “aka Variantic”
• Titanium Carbo-Nitride (TiCN)
• Aluminium Chromium Nitride (AlCrN – a.k.a. AlCRONA).
• Chromium Carbide topcoats (CrC))

On parts manufactured by the TDCC, the following is also available:

• Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) – super low friction,  high hardness coating is available, including Duplex format.
• Tungsten Carbide Carbon (WC/C) –  significantly improves the sliding properties of various tools, components and machine parts.

The above can also be supplied in Duplex format for applications requiring higher surface loading and improved fatigue life.

What does PVD offer?

PVD is a line-of-sight process, fully computer controlled and performed in a complex coating system made by the world leaders in PVD Coating. The advantages of high precision, high hardness, exceptionally thin coatings performed at medium range temperatures means these coatings can be applied to a broad range of materials and applications and outperforming other processes in their niche.

It’s All in the Preparation – and the Finishing Off

One of the most important aspects of PVD is both the preparation and finishing off. In all cases, the surface preparation must be ~ Ra 0.1 µm and the parts should be finished off. The TDCC will take care of all of this.

Properties

• High adhesion strength
• Thickness typically 2-4 µm
• Micro hardness of 2300 Hv to over 3300 Hv
• Good adhesion to sharp cutting edges
• Low coefficient of friction
• Applied at ±480 °C

Benefits

• Highest precision and repeatability
• Low distortion
• Good abrasion and adhesive wear resistance
• Excellent for sharp edge applications such as cutting, punching and blanking
• Can be applied to a wider range of tool steels, such as HSS and Powder Metallurgical (PM) steels as well as tungsten carbide.
• Preserves highly polished surface finishes

Applications

• Precision metal working tools and dies (including our Fang range of punches)
• Pierce punches, trim and blanking tools
• Cold forging tools and trim dies
• Cutting Tools and Inserts
• Taps and Dies
• Plastic Injection Moulding Parts (sliding and rotating cores and inserts, screw tips, slides)
• Blades
• Machine Parts, etc.

We offer superior PVD, by matching the application to the coating required, pre- and post polishing where necessary, as well as assistance with base material selection and heat treatment specifications to make the job work for you.

In many cases, it is not possible to undo certain processes or manufacturing steps that are required to take the advantages that the coating has to offer. This is where our ability and experience with manufacture of precision custom tooling brings out the best performance of our coatings and we can offer a complete manufactured solution. See our manufacturing page for more.

Comparison of Coatings

So which PVD coating is best for the job?  Fortunately, the coatings have the majority of their applications in the same range and therefore a critical error can not be made between the two. DLC is mainly used where super low friction is required.

DLC

For more information on DLC, follow this link.

PVD vs TD

For a comparison table of TD coating vs PVD coating, please click here