Electroplating of Fe-C coatings as an alternative to hard chrome coatings

- PhD project, collaboration between 1) Technical University of Denmark (DTU), 2) OCAS NV, ArcelorMittal Global R&D Gent (Belgium), 3) a. h. nichro Haardchrom (Denmark) and 4) Fast Track - Materials Solutions (Denmark).

Strong concerns about the harmful effects of selected chemicals on humans and eco‐systems have resulted in chromium trioxide being on the list of substances included in Annex XIV of REACH ("Authorisation List"). The ban has huge consequences for the traditional hard chrome plating as the predominant current process to produce hard and wear resistant coatings for the aerospace, automotive, drilling and military industries.

Already in 2014, the need of environmental friendly alternatives to hard chrome encouraged the Danish hard chrome plater a. h. nichro Haardchrom, in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and with financial support by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food, to investigate the potential of novel types of coatings. Without compromising for neither the excellent coating properties nor the ease of a straightforward deposition technology, electroplating of iron-carbon coatings revealed promising results and a PhD project on surface engineering of Fe-C coatings was started in 2017. The project is a collaboration between the Technical University of Denmark and the companies a. h. nichro Haardchrom (Denmark) and OCAS NV, ArcelorMittal Global R&D Gent (Belgium) and it is further supported by the societal partnership; Fast Track - Materials Solutions (Denmark).

Electroplating setup - by Jacob Obitsø Nielsen

Although electroplating of iron has been developed a century ago, it has mainly been used for localized reparation of worn surfaces and its full exploration and application as a cheap, non-toxic, versatile plating process with a huge potential for engineering the microstructure and associated properties of the Fe-C coatings is now addressed in the project. With systematic lab-scale experiments, the plating process is optimized and challenges of upscaling for final implementation into industrial processing are tackled. These imply, for example, the risk of oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+ in the electrolyte, which even in case of low concentrations of Fe3+ will reduce the current efficiency and cause the coating to become brittle, stressed and pitted. After two years of development, a proof-of-concept has been established for an innovative process being able to handle the oxidation without chemical adjustment and being able to produce hard Fe-C coatings with similar wear resistance as hard chrome. Thorough microstructure characterization using state-of-the-art and complementary characterization techniques reveals the internal structure of the Fe-C coatings and enables understanding of its growth as a prerequisite for further tailoring of the plating process and, hence, the coating properties. As a next step towards successful implementation into industrial processing for large-scale synthesis of the hard and wear resistant surfaces, the Fe-C coatings will be tested on pilot-scale under surface lubrication, being typical for bearings or gears. While lubrication straightforwardly handles the main concern for the Fe-C coatings, its low corrosion resistance compared to hard chrome, further development and dedicated plating solutions are considered to solve the corrosion issue and, thus, widen the applicability of the Fe-C coatings while maintaining the mindset of a feasible and environmentally friendly process. The combined strengths of the stakeholders allows to act on specific needs from the industrial partners and brainstorm about possible solutions with experts from both academia and industry.

Netværksdag i materiale innovationens tegn

Anderledes måder og metoder at skabe innovation i virksomheder på tværs af faggrupper var et populært tema ved årets netværksdag for Fast Track-netværket, der inkluderede et ekspertpanel med nogle af verdens dygtigste materialeeksperter.

- Af Thore Dam Mortensen

Branchefolk fra både toneangivende større virksomheder i den danske industri, ambitiøse underleverandører og nysgerrige Start-Ups deltog i starten af september i årets store Fast Track-arrangement om innovative, men også praktiske måder at løse konkrete overflade- og materialeproblemer på. Organisationen bag det Innovationsfonden-støttede samfundspartnerskabsprojekt Fast Track, der blev søsat forrige år med 35 millioner kroner i støtte, havde i år valgt Teknologisk Institut i Taastrups hovedbygning som scene. Her kunne de fremmødte så opleve en række danske såvel som udenlandske forskere og industrieksperter gå i dybden med innovative måder at angribe konkrete problemstillinger på i industrien. I netværket er det således ambitionen, at medlemmerne hjælper hinanden, eksempelvis når en maskine går i stykker i produktionen, eller når der skønnes behov for helt nye materialeteknologiske løsninger på problemer.

Arrangører og medlemmer af Fast Track Project Management Teamet, Lars Pleth Nielsen og Kasper Bondo Hansen, var godt tilfredse med dagens fremmøde på lidt over 60 fagfolk.

Et af de indlæg, der på dagen mødte størst spørgelyst fra deltagerne, kom fra Steen Lauridsen fra Terma. Han fortalte om virksomhedens succes med at holde særlige workshops med henblik på at skabe nye ideer og inspiration i organisationen. For virksomheden har det vist sig at være en stor succes at få en række eksterne fagfolk fra Fast Track-netværket på besøg for at give deres besyv med i en kreativ skabelsesproces, hvor ud fra kommende input kan være med til at ændre mønstre og tankegange, konstaterede Steen Lauridsen. De første oplæg på dagen gav arrangementet et internationalt snit. Først var Solution Sales Lead, Tuomas Pinomaa, efterfulgt af Senior Scientist, Tomi Suhonen. Begge er ansat ved Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT , der er den finske pendant til Teknologisk Institut, TI, i Danmark, og som TI har en samarbejdsaftale med. Sidstnævnte fortalte om Process-Structure-Properties- Performance, PSPP, paradigmet, der er på vej til at blive en hjørnesten inden for computerbaseret materialeudvikling, ICME. I den forbindelse præsenterede han en række vellykkede casestudier med resultater fra implementeringen af et egenudviklet Multiscale Materials Modeling Toolset til design af forskellige materialeløsninger målrettet en række specifikke industrielle applikationer. Blandt VTT's kunder er i dag førende industrivirksomheder som Sandvik Coromant, EOS, Caterpillar og ArcelorMittal, fremhævede Tomi Suhonen.

HJÆLP VINDINDUSTRIEN

Fra Force Technology gav Teamleader, Trine Nybo Lomholt, et indblik i arbejdet med at standardisere korrosionsbeskyttelsestiltag i forbindelse med en række projekter, der omhandler blandt andet fremstillingen af fundamenter til offshorevindmøller. Hun opfordrede de fremmødte til at byde ind med ideer til løsninger af problemer i de forskellige projekter. For der er stadig rigtig mange problematikker, der skal undersøges og løses med henblik på at gøre den grønne energiteknologi billigere og derved mere konkurrencedygtig i forhold til eksempelvis fossile brændstoffer, understregede hun.

Som afslutning på de fælles plenumoplæg gav leder af Teknologsk Instituts Tribologicenter, Lars Pleth Nielsen, tilhørerne en udførlig introduktion til bogen ’Advanced Surface Technology’, som han har skrevet sammen med DTU-professor, Per Møller. I bogen understreger de to verdenskendte brancheeksperter, at det er nødvendigt at have et overblik over mulige overfladebehandlingsmetoder for at kunne vælge den mest optimale løsning til en given materialeteknologisk problemstilling. Herudover gav han sit syn på en række andre velkendte overfladebehandlingsprocesser og -materialer.

2018, FAST TRACK R&D; MEETING

Two times a year we invite our partners from the industry, GTS-institutes, and Universities to network, gain new perspectives and get inspired by our Fast Track networking model.

We welcomed great colleagues from Siemens Gamesa, Hempel, Terma, Force Technology, Elplatek, Technological University of Denmark, Aalborg University, and Danish Technological Institute.

And when our two-day meeting finished last week, our colleagues and partners went home with new perspectives and inputs from a strengthened network.

Productive discussions filled our days.

Each partner held a presentation on the work and challenges they are currently engaging. And at the end of presentations, qualified inputs and new perspectives gave way to new solutions.

This is what is so great about our Fast Track model: We bring together people from different areas of our industry giving new perspectives, different methods, and applications a place to be shared. This is amongst others how we are pushing for progress.

Terma received new inputs on how to engage with new, alternative materials in their running development work for Siemens Gamesa, Technological University of Denmark, and Danish Technological Institute.

Hempel and Aalborg University went into depth with discussions regarding the characterization of the stress development in paint systems on a molecular level. These discussions and outcomes are just fractions of the conversations taking place at our two-day meeting. And that is what Fast Track is all about.

Thank you all who joined our successful two-day Fast Track R&D meeting. It was a pleasure to meet you, learn from you and expand our collective knowledge of the industries we all work in.