Hard anodizing
Functional refinement of aluminium parts as anode in special electrolytes.
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What is so special about these layers?
CompCote®
CompCote® is an aluminium oxide polymer composite coating with pioneering properties. CompCote® coatings are formed by anodic oxidation of the base material and simultaneous molecular bonding of the aluminium oxide layer to polymers. The layers grow into and out of the base material, resulting in an optimal bond with the base material. Due to the molecular polymer content, CompCote® offers chemical bond bridges with a coordinated choice of top coats, so that a very good bond strength is achieved here as well.
The process is patented in Europe, the US and other countries, and classified as safe for contact with food by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- Characteristics
Based on the very hard aluminium oxide, CompCote® has a high hardness. It is alloy and process dependent. The coating demonstrates excellent wear resistance in the Taber Abraser test, which can be better than conventional anodisation coatings. CompCote® is corrosion resistant and outperforms normal anodising layers through the presence of molecular polymers. CompCote® produces a fibrous fracture pattern in the notched-bar impact test. In contrast, conventional oxide layers break like brittle glass.
CompCote® roughens the surface comparatively little and has an optimised microstructure. In various friction pairings and friction tests, the composite coatings show very good anti-seizing properties. Sometimes the friction values even decrease with repeated trials (self-smoothing effect). Stick-slip effects are reduced.
CompCote® is excellent for colouring. Standard colours are black, titanium grey, blue, red, gold and green. The coloured surfaces are more lightfast than coloured standard anodised coatings.
In addition to the CompCote® process, there is also CompCote®-H, which is characterised by higher hardness as well as better wear and corrosion properties.
- Base Materials
CompCote® is suitable for almost all aluminium alloys.
- Field of Application
Low density aluminium combined with CompCote® opens new avenues in technical and decorative applications with increased quality requirements.
CompCote® has no influence on the bending fatigue strength of the base material. This property makes the coating interesting for aerospace applications.
Examples of other areas of application in which CompCote® is successfully used are: architecture, automotive industry, electrical engineering, photographic and video technology, household appliances, hydraulics, information technology, hunting weapons, food industry, mechanical engineering, medical technology, pneumatics, sporting goods, packaging machines, defence technology.
- Process Locations
Aalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Jeschkenweg 28
87600 Kaufbeuren
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 8341 6601 0
Fax: +49 8341 6601 40
Write an email
HART-COAT®
As early as the early 1960s, AHC laid the foundation for hard-anodising in Germany with the introduction of the HART-COAT® process. HART-COAT® (or HC) is a specially developed coating for the functional finishing of aluminium materials (also called hard coating). With the help of electric current, the workpiece surface transforms into a hard, ceramic-like aluminium oxide layer. This aluminium oxide layer builds up in the form of regular hexagonal cells, which stand like honeycombs perpendicular to the workpiece surface. The workpiece is thus primarily protected against wear and corrosion.
Hard coating is a particularly versatile hard-anodising coating with different process variants and post-treatment options. Every year, more than half a billion components are hard-coated by AHC to ISO 100 74 standards.
- Characteristics
HART-COAT® layers are very wear resistant and hard as a consequence of the morphology of the aluminium oxide. During hard coating, half of the oxide grows into the base material and half outwards. As a result, the bond between the layer and the base material is exceptionally high. The ceramic-like HART-COAT® layer is a good electrical insulator and has a low thermal conductivity and high dielectric strength. As a protective layer on engine piston bases, it can withstand extremely high temperatures in the short term.
Special post-treatments make it possible to adapt HART-COAT® coatings to special requirement profiles such as increased wear and corrosion resistance or improved anti-friction properties.
- Base Materials
Almost all technically interesting aluminium alloys, be they wrought alloys, cast alloys or die-cast alloys, can be finished with HART-COAT ®.
With components that are being delivered for coating, please note the following:
- no material, machining or surface defects
- as free from oil and residue as possible
- part-specific protective packaging where possible
- the pre-coating operation should be machining
- no foreign bodies in the workpiece surface
- edges and corners well deburred and as rounded as possible
- tolerances must be taken into account
- vent holes may be necessary
- Field of Application
Due to its good wear resistance, a hard-coated aluminium material can replace expensive wear-resistant steel. The same applies to the replacement of expensive corrosion-resistant materials. Potential applications are where contact corrosion should be prevented, anti-friction properties improved, electrical or heat insulation increased.
The density of aluminium alloys is about one third of the value of conventional ferrous and non-ferrous metals. By switching from steel or brass to aluminium materials, inertia forces of high-speed machine parts can be substantially reduced. This results in new constructional options and savings in energy costs. The required surface durability is achieved by using HART-COAT®.
Examples of HART-COAT® hard-anodised components are: spacers, iron soleplates, surgical instruments, damping chambers, nozzles, guide cylinders, housings, fixings, levers, heating plates, insulating bolts, camera parts, rocker arms, clamps, pistons, clutch parts, bearing rollers, bearing shells , baffles, guide rollers, mounting plates, cam discs, pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders, rollers, spools, transport levers, valves, compressor wheels, gears wheels and racks, centrifuges, cylinder heads, cylinder tubes.
The industrial sectors using HART-COAT®-finished components include, amongst others: gauge construction, automotive, mining, office technology, data technology, energy technology, household appliance industry, food industry, mechanical engineering, medical device construction, measurement technology, pharmaceutical industry, reactor technology, control technology, defence technology.
- Process Locations
Aalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Boelckestraße 25 - 57
50171 Kerpen
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 2237 502 0
Fax: +49 2237 502 100
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Zillenhardtstraße 2
73037 Goeppingen-Voralb
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 7161 15688 0
Fax: +49 7161 15688 100
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Klausnerring 28
85551 Kirchheim-Heimstetten
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 89 990241-0
Fax: +49 89 990241-10
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
In der Krümme 2
64331 Weiterstadt
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 6151 9806 0
Fax: +49 6151 8994 70
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Coswiger Straße 16
12681 Berlin
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 30 549904 0
Fax: +49 30 549904 20
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Kronskamp 122
22880 Wedel
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 4103 80012 0
Fax: +49 4103 80012 29
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Lindenallee 26
39288 Burg
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 3921 4829 0
Fax: +49 3921 4829 19
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment Ges.m.b.H.
Gewerbestraße 21
5261 Helpfau-Uttendorf
Österreich
Tel.: +43 7724 44144
Fax: +43 7724 44144 10
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment GmbH
Jeschkenweg 28
87600 Kaufbeuren
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 8341 6601 0
Fax: +49 8341 6601 40
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment S.R.L.
Via Staffora 20/2
20090 Opera (Mi)
Italien
Tel.: +39 02 576065 09
Fax: +39 02 576065 28
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment Sp.z o.o.
ul. Strefowa 5
58-200 Dzierzoniow
Polen
Tel.: +48 74 8108508
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd.
Jiang Dong Er Rd. No. 1646
311222 Hangzhou
China
Tel.: +86 571 5757 9777
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment Ltd.
Clover Street
NG17 7 LJ Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Grossbritannien
Tel.: +44 1623 753 107
Fax: +44 1623 754 538
Write an emailAalberts Surface Treatment AG
Industriezone Schächenwald
6460 Altdorf
Schweiz
Tel.: +41 41 875670 0
Fax: +41 41 875670 1
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- Process Locations Locations not undefined