Using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, Balzers applies thin-film, wear-resistant coatings to cutting tools, forming tools, molds, dies and precision components. A customer supplies the blanks, and Balzers coats them, like a chef preparing a meal in which the customer supplies half of the ingredients.
Alphabet Soup
The coatings are an alphabet of metallic compounds--TiN, CrC, WC/C--and the recipes used depend on what the user will do with the coated product. Titanium nitride (TiN) works well for machining iron-based materials, while chromium nitride (CrN) is more appropriate for machining copper alloys. Chromium carbide (CrC), with its high temperature oxidation resistance, is best for coating cores and molds used in die casting. Tungsten carbide/carbon (WC/C), with its low coefficient of friction resulting from a mix of hard tungsten carbide particles and a softer amorphous carbon matrix, is designed to coat and protect highly-loaded precision components, gears and gear drives, engine components and hydraulic pumps and compressors.