Coatings

Cutting tool life is reduced remarkably in machining steel at high cutting speeds and feed rates because of heat. Due to the poor cutting characteristics with the uncoated tools, tools life is short and good surface finish cannot be obtained in many cases. The cutting characteristics can be improved by using Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) coatings. It has already been 30 years since the PVD coating was developed. Today hard coatings are playing an important role in the wear protection for cutting and forming tools and on automotive components. To satisfy customers demand for achieving highly efficient machining, STATON developed coatings together with geometry design to enhance wear resistance.

In industry and especially in transport, a lot of the energy is used to get over a friction. Wherever two surfaces interact, so-called tribological contact occurs. This causes energy loss and often surface damage. Reduction of friction and thus wear is one of the most important aspects of low-friction PVD coatings. Lubricant used to reduce the friction, heat and wear between mechanical components although help but they cause an environmental risk. A low-friction PVD coatings, especially a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating are environmentally friendly and can be used to reduce friction, wear, fretting, galling and corrosion, which means that a longer component life is achieve. They can also be used to modify electrical conductivity and wettability. It is possible due to the wide variety of performance characteristics, including hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated DLC coatings, related to deposition parameters. 

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is an eco-friendly vacuum coating method which has benefits related to colors and protectional functionalities over traditional methods. Quality of the decorative coating are made due to the high adhesion, high hardness, high purity with chemical inert and in some cases biocompatible properties. Related to that, extended usage period of the equipment, but also guarantee a lasting aesthetic appearance is achieved.

Decorative coatings made by our technology is suitable for a variety of materials such as: Stainless steel, Alloy steel, Titanium, Tungsten, Aluminum, High speed steel, Plastic, etc.

 Typical applications are: Automotive, Watches, Jewelry, Cutlery, Fashion accessories, Firearms, etc.

The quality and reliability of the coin dies can be improved by the chosen material, thermal treatment during the production of the die and treatment of the functional surfaces. Coating of the die functional surfaces using a suitable hard PVD coating can substantially increase the quality and lifetime of such die and is almost a must in the case of stamping coins with a proof quality. The lifetime of coin dies for stamping of common coins in circulation can be improved more than twice when using hard chromium nitride PVD coating of the die when compared to a conventional chromium-plated die. 

STATON has developed a specialized PVD coating for surface modification of dies used for stamping of circulation coins. The die coated with Staton coating was proven in an independent test to be more than 9 times more effective than the conventional die.