The first viable alternative to Hard Industrial Chrome Plating
Wear occurs when the perfectly smooth, frictionless surfaces found only in textbooks are replaced by the less accommodating surfaces of the real world. Mastering the wear process means controlling a complex set of system variables that start with the physical characteristics of mating surfaces.
Wear challenges include the geometry and environmental aspects of a contact, the state of stress and stress distribution, the dynamics of motion, the quality of lubrication, the presence of contaminants, and the finish of the surfaces themselves. While several different wear phenomena — such as abrasive wear, adhesive wear, fretting or sliding wear — can be acting on the surfaces at once, they have a common result: Surface material is lost, ultimately causing a functionally significant change in dimension and impaired performance.
For many years, Hard Industrial Chrome Plating has been the industry standard for protection from wear and corrosion. However, this solution comes with a high environmental price tag. There is a need for alternative technologies, as the production of chromium layers can severely pollute the air and water with toxic substances.
We believe this to be the "next generation" in wear resistant coatings. Some advantages of UltraWearGuard™ compared to Hard Industrial Chrome include:
This new coating is applied utilizing the advanced technology of the High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) supersonic flamespray process. The flame of the HVOF process strikes the workpiece at high speed, so that thin, dense and smooth coatings with favorable compressive stresses result. The high flame jet velocity (around 7,000f/s) with flame temperatures around 5,000ºF results in finer surfaces and denser coatings.
Typical applied coating thickness of UltraWearGuard™ is .003-.006"
Finishes range from 150/160 RMS Matte to as low as 2/4 RMS Mirror Polish
When compared to Hard Industrial Chrome Plating, the superior wear resistance and longer component life, as well as the equal price of UltraWearGuard™, make it a successful alternative to Hard Chrome Plating for diverse components such as: