Homogenous coating of the entire strip surface. Consistent quality, from batch to batch. Reliability is everything with coating. That’s why we’ve devised a PVD (physical vapor deposition) process with roll-to-roll type continuous evaporation coating of full-width strip steel. At industrial scale, this significantly shortens the value chain.
Advanced coatings (within nanometer range) with multiple-layer options are applied to a strip in motion. The pre-treatment ensures a clean metallic surface, with good adhesion between the substrate and the coating. All coatings are characterized by very low content of impurities and foreign elements. The coating process also assures close thickness tolerances of the surface layer.
The surface layers consist of metallic elements, for example, aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), or tin (Sn). Non-metallic coating in the form of carbon (C) is offered for low-temperature fuel cell bipolar plate material.
A zero-harm process
Smarter coatings are environmentally-friendly coatings. Advanced Alleima technology eliminates discharge to water or air, with no toxic residues. Compared to electroplating, the coating process is also approximately 60% more energy efficient.
Stainless steel is manufactured using mainly recycled materials, making this a low-impact process.
1. Pre-treatment (surface inspection, cleaning)
A clean surface is a prerequisite for good adhesion. To detect eventual harmful defects, the surface is inspected visually using a camera system.
2. PVD coat (in-line pre-treatment, coating)
After a surface conditioning step, the surface is coated using a continuous physical vapor deposition process.
3. Quality control (coating thickness, coated surface inspection)
The surface coating thickness is constantly measured in-line with the use of integrated coating specific devices. To detect eventual harmful defects, the coated surface is inspected visually.
4. Finishing steps
After coating, the coil is tested according to internal and external specifications and slit to final width. The coil is suitably packed and shipped to your production line.
All Alleima material for electronic components conforms with the requirements of the EC Directive (2002/95/EC) on the restricted use of certain hazardous substances (RoHS in electrical and electronic equipment – regarding lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDE) – and the maximum concentration values for lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium as further specified in Commission Decision 2005/618/EC.