Hardide Coatings has developed a revolutionary alternative to toxic hard-chrome plating (HCP), which is expected to be restricted or banned soon.
Hardide-A meets strict new EU and US environmental standards and provides comparable wear, corrosion, hardness, surface finish and substrate bonding properties to HCP. Unlike most HCP alternatives, Hardide-A is also suitable for internal surfaces and complex shapes.
HCP has been a mainstay of industrial coating in aerospace, heavy equipment, automotive and various other industries for many years. However, the hexavalent chrome salts used to produce HCP pose extreme health and environmental hazards.
Hardide-A matches the standard thickness (50-100 microns) and hardness (800-1200 Hv) of HCP, simplifying the transition without need for dimensional changes or drawing re-design. HCP’s intrinsic performance limitations hinder its more demanding wear applications and Hardide-A outperforms it in several key areas. This includes enhanced protection against corrosion, wear and chemically aggressive media, enhanced fatigue life and a non-porous structure.
A number of other alternatives to HCP are available including thermal spray, in particular high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF). To date, HVOF and other spray coatings have been considered the best available alternative to HCP. However, Hardide-A provides several advantages over HVOF such as versatile geometric compatibility, corrosion and fatigue resistance and facilitated finishing.
The company has successfully completed the first of two test phases to approve Hardide-A as a replacement for HCP on an application for AgustaWestland, and, if successful, the Hardide coating will be approved for use on a specific AgustaWestland helicopter rotor blade component. The helicopter manufacturer is also considering other applications for the Hardide coating technology.