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Integran's Processes
Corrosion and Wear Protection
Steel used in aggressive environments with corrosion coupled with high wear have traditionally used electroplated engineered hard chrome (EHC) for surface protection. While other electroplated metals provide good corrosion resistance (like cadmium Cd and Zinc Nickel ZnNi), they are removed quickly under wear conditions, leaving the steel exposed to corrosion. In reent years, there has been a push to replace toxic hard chrome plating to improve worker health and safety.
Nanovate CoP Plating
Integran Technologies has developed an electroplated nanocrystalline Cobalt, called Nanovate CoP (also referred to as nCoP, or Nanovate CR), that is a cost effective and higher performance, drop-in replacement for hard chrome plating.
The process has been proven stable thourgh industrial application of millions of amp hours, and there are industrial products with the material in the field since 2008. The process is covered by the US DoD Mil-Spec "MIL-DTL-32502-COATING, COBALT-PHOSPHORUS ALLOY, NANOCRYSTALLINE - (ELECTRODEPOSITED)". An SAE - AMS Specification for the process is in the approval process (Document B13AA - "Nanocrystalline Cobalt-Phosphorus Electroplating") as of November 2013.
Integran licenses the technology to interested parties (currently deployed to Navair, Pratt and Whitney, and Enduro Industries), and offers low to medium volume production and application engineering through it's facilities in Toronto, Canada. The material is particularly well suited for sliding wear applications (hydraulics, pneumatics) and high chloride corrosion environments (salt spray, muriatic acid wash-downs etc.)
Material/Process Benefits
01
Lower Labour Costs
Our Nanovate CoP has a high deposition efficiency (over 90% vs. 15-25% for hard chrome) allowing parts to be processed at incredible speed. With plating rates of up to 200 microns/hour (ex: 30 microns in 8 minutes), your labor rate for plating your parts will decrease dramatically. Given that this usually accounts for ~50% of the plating process, the savings can be quite significant.
02
Lower Plant/Electrical Costs
The high deposition speed allows for the replacing of multiple chrome lines with a single Nanovate CoP line. This reduces the plant cost per processed unit and means less tanks, power supplies and electrochemistry for the same through-put. If your plant is processing parts at peak capacity with the plating process representing a bottleneck, plating using the Nanovate CoP process offers a way to increase your capacity.
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In terms of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), repairs requiring thick build-up can be process much quicker, resulting in less downtime for customers and a shorter backlog for suppliers. In addition, plant power can almost entirely be utilized for depositing metal, rather than be wasted on gas and heat generation.
03
Higher Corrosion Resistance
The corrosion resistance of Nanovate CoP far exceeds that of hard chrome because the material is not microcracked. There is no need for expensive Nickel underlayers that are common with hard chrome usage in high corrosion environments. The corrosion performance also allows for thickness reduction, which furthers reduces cost.
04
Lower Friction/Sliding Wear
The lower coefficient of friction of Nanovate CoP over hard chrome and contributes to better sliding wear performance, subsequently leading to lower seal leakage rates.
05
Improved Fatigue Performance
In aerospace, many parts are designed based on steel strength and fatigue performance is critical in maintaining a minimum strength over repeated loading of the parts (aircraft landing gear is a great example). As the Nanovate CoP plating is a high strength structural cladding, it minimizes the fatigue debit imparted on the steel. In lower strength steels, it can actually impart a fatigue credit. This is in stark contrast to hard chrome which imparts a very significant fatigue debit, resulting in heavier over-designed parts.
06
High Spalling Resistance
The high elastic limit (~1%) of nanocrystalline Nanovate CoP makes for high spalling resistance in high strain applications. This distinguishes the process from others that include thermal sprayed ceramic materials that have a very low strain capability and a tendency to spall under repeated high strain applications.
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Additional Data
Unrivalled Performance
Integran's Processes
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