The site in Faulquemont was founded in 1999 and belongs today to the Aalberts surface treatment family. The primary characteristic of our site in Faulquemont is to deliver the selective hard-anodizing treatment SELGA-COAT^® to our customers. This process makes it possible to target precisely defined areas of mechanic components, with no need for prior masking.

Classic immersion surface treatments, either chemical or galvanic, generally prove their worth in numerous applications. These conventional procedures, however, are not well suited to treating components with highly complex geometries in a selective and targeted manner. In this field, and particularly in the automotive industry, the selective SELGA-COAT^® treatment offers an inexpensive alternative that doesn’t harm the environment.

Engine piston coated with SELGA-COAT^®

A machine operator locates the pump housings in the treatment tools

In classic hard anodizing processes, the components are immersed in large electrolyte baths and a current is running through them. With the SELGA-COAT^® process, the aluminum component is not immersed in the electrolyte, but rather placed in a treatment tool. The tool is equipped with integrated systems that make it possible to create an impermeable cell and to pass the electrolyte over clearly defined areas of the component. In this way the electrolyte only has contact with the functional surfaces of the component, which is thus treated in a targeted manner; this makes it unnecessary to mask the components before treatment or to machine them afterwards.

The electrolyte, one of the key elements in the SELGA-COAT^® process, is also delivered to other companies who treat their components with SELGA-COAT^® machines in-house. Aalberts surface treatment Faulquemont sells SELGA-COAT^® machines and integrates them directly into your production lines. The surface treatment, once integrated in the production process, eliminates typical manufacturing issues such as transport costs, late deliveries, temporary anti-corrosion protection, potential damage linked to handling, and lengthy production times.

Several SELGA-COAT^® machines have been built and installed by Aalberts Surface Treatment SAS around the world: in Germany as well as in Brazil, China, India, Turkey and the Czech Republic. All SELGA-COAT^® machines work by passing electrolyte through closed circuits. The risk of the process being contaminated by possible impurities is much lower than with classical immersion processes. Given that the treatment is selective, the use of electrolyte is much lower, reducing the overall electrolyte consumption.

A competitive advantage lies in the design of the treatment tools, developed and produced for each application, and in the definition of the treatment parameters. The components of the treatment tools are manufactured according to Aalberts surface treatment specifications, and the tools are fully assembled, attached to treatment machines, and initiated by Aalberts surface treatment. SELGA-COAT^® is so well developed that treatment speeds of up to 10 times faster than those obtained in classic immersion baths can be reached. And the quality of the treatment is excellent as well:

Our plant in Faulquemont works almost only for the automotive industry. The number of components treated may reach as many as 80,000 components per reference per year. The selective, hard-anodizing SELGA-COAT^® treatment is used mainly in the following applications: