ICMCTF1999 Session G9-2: Decorative Vacuum Coatings

Thursday, April 15, 1999 1:30 PM in Room Town & Country

Thursday Afternoon

Start	Invited?	Item
1:30 PM		G9-2-1 Determining Substrate Temperature During Cathodic Arc Deposition P. Sullivan, R.P. Welty (Vapor Technologies, Inc.) The temperature of the substrate during deposition is difficult to measure and hence to control, particularly in production systems with moving substrates. The substrate temperature profile, however, can significantly affect the properties of the coating and of the substrate itself. We have developed a simple thermal model to predict the temperature profile of a substrate during a multi-step cathodic arc deposition process. We compare predicted temperature profiles to measurements made during production processes. Thermocouples were cemented to substrates, and temperature profiles recorded using a battery-operated, vacuum enclosed data logger traveling along with the substrates in their planetary motion. The model provides sufficiently accurate predictions to make it useful to choosing process parameters for substrates of varying mass, surface area, and temperature tolerance.
1:50 PM		G9-2-2 The SLC-technology for Chromelike Surface - A New Process Combining Powder Painting With Physical Vapor Deposition H.M. Gabriel, T. Schwing (DUROVIB Oberflächentechnik GmbH, Germany) Electroplated Cr is of limited durability when used in corrosive environments. Furthermore high gloss electroplated Cr is associated with high costs due to mechanical polishing and environmental issues. After years of development, the new, world-wide patented SLC - process solved all these issues. This unique technology is a combination of powder paint techniques with an ion-assisted metallizing pvd-process. The SLC - coating is a multilayer coating, where a pvd (physical vapor deposition) - metal layer is deposited sandwichlike in between 2 polymer powder coats. The paper describes the applications of the SLC - coating to automotive wheels. Tests with SLC - coated wheels showed an unsurpassed corrosion and wear resistanc in: 1) the 240 h CASS - test, 2) the 1000 h salt spray test, 3) the gravel erosion test and 4) 1000 car washes simulation etc. Meanwhile close to 500.000 SLC - coated steel and Al-alloy wheels are on the road in Europe and the United States Coating equipment, process details, coating properties as well s other applications are reported.
2:10 PM		G9-2-3 Process and System Design for Chromium Coating of Deeply Recessed Parts Using Cathodic Arc or Sputtering G. Vergason (Vergason Technology, Inc.) Emerging metalization processes have moved from large batch coating cycles to smaller rapid cycle coating techniques with improved quality yields and reduced cost per part produced. Substrate complexities and selecting the right deposition technique challenge the process engineer and equipment designer. This paper will focus on solutions for coating deeply recessed substrtaes with chromium using Cathodic Arc or Sputtering Coating evalution will include uniformity of thickness and adhesion.
2:30 PM		G9-2-4 Performance of Hard Coatings, Made by Balanced and Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering, for Decorative Applications B. Miremad, M. Miremad, R. Constantin (Preci-coat S.a., Switzerland) Decorative PVD coatings have been developed to replace the traditional gold plating used for "high-value" watch industry and jewellery, whose minimum gold thickness was 10 micrometres. According to the price of gold in the late 70's and in the early 80's, a number of companies, active in the watch industry or specialised in PVD surface coatings have worked and tried to replace gold plating by a TiN yellow PVD coating. Preci-Coat was the first company worldwide to succeed and to industrialise the yellow PVD coating for these "high-value" decorative applications. Various other colours, in addition to the yellow colour, have been developed, such as black, blue, etc. Because of the high price of the final product, a very high performance of the PVD coating is required. Preci-Coat has succeeded in mastering this aspect by improving the different deposition parameters of PVD treatments by sputtering and also by the combination of PVD and electroplating. Some examples of coloured coatings are presented considering their advantages and drawbacks as well as their chemical and mechanical behaviour towards external strains.
2:50 PM		G9-2-5 Corrosion Characterization of Decorative Coatings Deposited by Cathodic Arc Evaporation W.K. Grant (Vapor Technologies, Inc.); B. Mishra (Colorado School of Mines) One characteristic of an effective decorative coating is its ability to resist corrosion and tarnishing in both normal and aggressive environments. To date most laboratory characterization of decorative coatings has been limited to qualitative assessments after chamber testing (e.g. neutral or copper-acid salt spray) or direct exposure to chemicals of interest. Field testing of decorative coatings is often performed, however this technique is costly and time consuming. To address the need for a quicker more reliable characterization technique we have utilized electrochemical potentiostatic and potentiodynamic analysis. Thin decorative coatings of ZrN, ZrTiN, and Cr were deposited by cathodic arc evaporation on plated brass and stainless steel. These coatings were subsequently analyzed in several acidic and basic electroytes to determine corrosion behavior. In some cases there was a direct correlation of the electrochemical data with chamber and field testing results.