The document discusses Hauzer's acquisition of the Cromatipic® intellectual property and trademarks. Cromatipic® is an environmentally friendly technology that can apply a chrome finish to plastic parts as an alternative to electroplating. Hauzer plans to build a new Cromatipic® production plant in Barcelona, Spain, to demonstrate the technology to automotive customers. The plant will include cleaning, painting, curing, PVD coating, and stripping processes. The goal is to show that Cromatipic® is a viable and competitive alternative to electroplating for the automotive industry.

1. Going Strong
No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You

2. Colophon
Publisher: IHI Hauzer Techno Coating B.V.
PO Box 3057, 5902 RB Venlo, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 77 355 97 77
Fax: +31 77 396 97 98
info@hauzer.nl
www.hauzer.nl
Editor: Désirée Driesenaar
Design: Creation Station, Roermond
2 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
No responsibility can be accepted for the correctness or
completeness of the statements made, especially in the case of
external contributions. The opinions expressed in this magazine
do not necessarily reflect those of IHI Hauzer Techno Coating B.V.
We reserve the right to make technical changes.
Reprinting or reproduction of any kind is prohibited. Exceptions
to this rule are possible only with the prior written permission
of the publisher.
© IHI Hauzer Techno Coating B.V., all rights reserved.
Content
3 Introduction
3 New Offices, New Member of the Board
4 Hauzer Acquires Cromatipic®
IP
5 Cromatipic®
Plant in Barcelona
6 Why Does Automotive Need New Chrome?
8 HIPIMS Carbon Coatings
12 Dörrenberg: Nitriding and PVD in One Process
14 Plasma Cleaning, a Viable Alternative
17 Tribological Coatings in Automotive Market China
18 New Control System for Stable Machine
19 Hauzer’s Vision on Flexible Machines
20 Meet us…

3. Modern and functional. The refurbished offices at Hauzer’s
headquarters also show a renewed entrance.
We are happy to announce that per April
2016 Dave Doerwald, Manager Process
Engineering, will become a full member of
the Board of Directors of IHI Hauzer Techno
Coating as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
With this change Process Technology will
be fully represented on board level. Dave
has been working at Hauzer since 1997,
fulfilling roles as mechanical engineer,
process engi-neer and product manager.
New offices New member
of the board
3
Going Strong
“Looking back, we can say that 2015 has been a good year. Our
technologies are popular in tool and tribological markets and
we have been able to innovate in line with market trends.
However, we can never really stand still and look back. We
have to focus on the future and keep in the forefront of our
markets. Therefore, 2016 promises to be an exciting year.
The developments in tool and tribological coatings keep
going strong, as you can read in the articles about plasma
cleaning and HIPIMS carbon. Furthermore we will give you
some insight in our upgrades and modular design philosophy
and I am glad to introduce Dave Doerwald as a new member
of the Board of Directors.
The decorative coating field will receive extra attention this
year. We have obtained all rights for the brand Cromatipic®
and we are building a plant in Spain to show the world how
you can achieve a shiny chrome finish on plastic parts in an
environmentally friendly way. We strongly believe in this
alternative for electroplating and the advantage is that we
already have a lot of experience with the technology in our
Metalliner®
.
In this edition of Hauzer for You we also present our vision
on the automotive market in China and we put our customer
Dörrenberg Edelstahl in the spotlight. I wish you a good read.”
Jeroen Landsbergen, CEO
Jeroen Landsbergen, CEO

4. 4 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
The acquisition of Cromatipic®
includes all responsibilities,
ownership of process, technology including factory engi-
neering and Hauzer will be supplier of consumables to all
Cromatipic®
users worldwide. Cromatipic®
is an environ-
mentally friendly technology that can replace electroplating.
It can be applied to various plastic substrates for many
applications. The technology uses only two coating pro-
cesses, where electroplating needs many more. With the
technology a flexible chrome layer is applied that needs no
top coat. The end result passes all common automotive
requirements for automotive interior and exterior parts.
The technology has already been proven and delivered in
Pascal Evers,
Sales Manager
Xavier Fernandez
Garcia, Plant
Manager
Albert Hendriks,
Sales Manager
Consumables
Marijn Gelten,
System Architect
Huub Vercoulen,
Sales Manager
Chinmay Trivedi, Process
Manager Decorative Coatings
combination with the inline production platform the
Metalliner®
. Cromatipic®
is a worthwhile addition to Hauzer’s
portfolio that will serve existing and new customers,
especially in the automotive market.
Building Complete Plants
Jeroen Landsbergen, CEO, is convinced that Cromatipic®
will really change the decorative supply chain to the
automotive industry. “Electroplating will be phased out in
the future, because of the health hazards and polluting
nature of chrome 6. In some countries it is already pro-
hibited. The plating industry has chosen chrome 3 as its
alternative, but it still remains a sensitive and complex
wet chemical process compared to our dry alternative.
Cromatipic®
has many advantages over plating on plastics
and over traditional paint and PVD technologies. The fact
that Cromatipic®
is now a Hauzer owned technology means
that we will be building complete plants including CO2
cleaning, painting, UV curing, PVD coating and rack stripping.
ThiswillbeinterestingforOriginalEquipmentManufacturers
(OEMs), Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers to the automotive manu-
facturers as well as for plating companies that want to be
ready for a future without chrome pollution.”
Global Challenges in Automotive
For the IHI Group as a whole, the acquisition of Cromatipic®
is a step further towards state-of-the-art solutions for
global challenges in the automotive industry. Going forward,
Hauzer and its sister companies such as IHI Ionbond, IMS
and VTN will work together to provide a comprehensive
portfolio of services in both metal and non-metal appli-
cations, furthering IHI’s ambition of becoming a global
leader in heat treatment and surface treatment technology
markets which are expected to show significant future growth.
Hauzer Acquires Cromatipic®
IP
Coating Solution for Automotive Market
As from the beginning of this year IHI Hauzer Techno
Coating has acquired the intellectual property rights
and trade marks for Cromatipic®
, formerly owned by
Sidasa in Spain. Hauzer is sure this will provide
lots of opportunities for existing customers as well
as new relations.

5. 5
The Cromatipic®
plant will contain 2000 square metres for
production and storage. Xavi: “The innovative and environ-
mentally friendly nature of the technology will be mirrored in
thedesignofthefactory.Moreover,webelievethatautomation
is key. Automation will be total with regard to the control of the
process, and maximum in terms of logistics movements.
Everything will be designed for future automation. We expect
the plant to be ready in the first quarter of 2017.”
Five Main Processes
“In Cromatipic®
technology there are five main processes: CO2
cleaning, painting, UV curing, PVD and rack stripping. For the
cleaning of parts we have chosen CO2 snow cleaning. Dry ice
will remove hydrocarbon and organic particles of all sizes.
High velocity gas will blow the contamination away.
For the application of lacquer a painting line will be installed.
As a next step curing is necessary to form a continuous lacquer
film with the final properties of hardness, chemical and
mechanical resistance and gloss. Cromatipic®
uses UV tech-
nology to ensure zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and
minimum curing time. A Metalliner®
will be installed for PVD
coating and a stripping line for rack cleaning. We will have
robots at various stages to handle products, unloading and
transferring them. Additionally there will be some equip-
ment for services, such as compressed air, osmotic water,
etc.”
Innovation
“The plant is the result of several years of experiences in
Cromatipic®
in terms of lacquer application and use of the
Metalliner®
,” Xavi continues. “Several improvements in the
processes have been considered during the design step of this
new plant. For example, new applications bells for lacquer, a
new cleaning system, an improvement on the operational size
of the Metalliner®
and new surface activations agents. The
plant itself will be as an innovative competence centre,
researching new plastics, new colours of the coatings, new
geometries and new customer quality requirements.”
Fun and Challenge
Xavi: “Spain is a good place to be, it is the second country in
Europe in terms of automotive production, with seventeen
factories from ten automotive brands and a lot of Tier 1
factories. Also Cromatipic®
started in Barcelona. We will build
the factory using kaizen methodology. A good design of the
lay-out and the interconnection between the five processes
is key to guarantee excellent productivity. I find the scope of
the project both fun and a challenge. I am glad to be part of
such an exciting development in the automotive industry.”
Cromatipic®
Plant in Barcelona
Modern Technology Guarantees
Excellent Productivity
Now that Hauzer owns all rights to Cromatipic®
,
they are building a production plant in Spain to show
potential customers a stable process with competitive
operational costs. “We adopt the highest standards,”
says Xavi Fernandez Garcia, Plant Manager at IHI
Hauzer Techno Coating Iberica SL, “We will show
the automotive industry that this technology is a leap
forward and a realistic alternative for electroplating.”

6. 6 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
Cromatipic®
Why Does Automotive Need New Chrome?
1. Environmentally friendly
alternative to electroplating
REACH regulations and directives are controlling the use of
hazardous materials and electroplating with its emission of
chrome 6 is not an environmentally friendly technology.
However, plating still gives the best results with regard to
hardness of the material. If the industry is serious about getting
away from plating because of its carcinogenic nature, it should
critically judge how important high hardness is for specific
products. Do we need maximum hardness or is optimum
hardness good enough e.g. for interior products that do not
have to withstand rough weather conditions? Cromatipic®
is
an alternative suitable for interior and exterior parts. It contains
no chrome 6, no solvents, there will be no chemical waste, no
waste water, the process is closed in vacuum and healthy for
employees. Furthermore, the coating complies with various
automotive standards.
2. Many plastics possible
Conventional electroplating uses ABS and ABS/PC as its
substrate plastic, although many better or cheaper plastics for
specific components can be imagined. Cromatipic®
has the
future aim to be used on many different plastics. In the
automotive industry the use of plastics has grown significantly,
due to the need for weight reduction. And ideally the industry
wants to use plastics and still retain a shiny metallic look.
Cromatipic®
makes this possible.
3. Two layers
Electroplating traditionally needs several thick copper-nickel-
chromium layers (approximately 30 μm) to obtain the chrome
look. Cromatipic®
uses two layers: a UV cured paint base layer
and a physical vapour deposition (PVD) layer. No topcoat is
needed for a bright chrome finish. Due to these two layers, the
yield will be maximized. To enhance surface protection, a
transparent plasma assisted chemical vapour deposition
(PACVD) layer on top of the PVD layer will be applied in most
applications. This can be incorporated together with the PVD
process, so only two coating processes will be involved.
The automotive industry is very adept in finding
its own solutions and for decades their designers
have looked towards electroplating as the
conventional technology for producing chrome
parts. Here are five reasons for change.

7. 7
4. Flexibility
After a product has received a Cromatipic®
coating, it will
still be very flexible thus assembly will be easier. Due to the
material being flexible and the layer being thin, the impact
upon collision will be much smaller compared to electro-
plated parts.
5. Design Freedom
Cromatipic®
enables designers to go out-of-the-box in their
design. Using lighting behind the chrome parts will become
possible, because in patterns the coating can be removed
with laser. Sharp edges can be coated properly and the parts
with Cromatipic®
will be radar transparent. Additionally, the
flexibility of the material will widen the scope of design
possibilities.
What Is Cromatipic®
?
Cromatipic®
is a combination of lacquer with a thin layer of
metal, that transforms all kinds of plastics into stylish chrome
products. After the pre-treatment, a spray UV base coat
(typically 30 μm) is applied without any volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), followed by a sputtered chrome PVD
coating (typically 400 nm). No top coat is needed. There is no
corrosion risk, because of the absence of Ni and Cu, excellent
adhesion is proven, the thermal stability and resistance to
humidity are outstanding and the process complies with the
European directives. Cromatipic®
is available in the colours
bright chrome and satin chrome including hydrophobic silicon
oxide (SiOx) coating for easier cleaning.
Magnetron Sputtering Technology
Magnetron sputtering is a plasma coating process that uses
bombardment of ions to the target surface. The vacuum
chamber of the PVD coating machine is filled with an inert
gas, such as argon. By applying a high voltage, a glow
discharge is created, resulting in acceleration of ions to the
target surface and a plasma coating. The argon-ions will eject
sputtering materials from the target surface, resulting in a
sputtered coating layer on the products in front of the target.
Often an additional gas such as nitrogen or acetylene is used,
which will react with the ejected material, this is called
reactive sputtering. Magnetron sputtering is somewhat
different from general sputtering technology. The difference
is that magnetron sputtering technology uses magnetic fields
to keep the plasma in front of the target, intensifying the
bombardment of ions. A highly dense plasma and a very
smooth coating is the result of this PVD coating technology.

8. 8 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
Since their introduction in 1990s, hydrogenated diamond like
carbon (DLC: a-C:H and a-C:H:Me) coatings are extensively
used as tribological coatings for engine parts due to their
excellent combination of low friction and improved wear
resistance properties. Nowadays, engine components such
as piston rings, piston pins, tappets andw diesel injection
components are coated in extremely high volumes, hundreds
of millions, with DLC coatings. But as the automotive
industry is changing rapidly, the requirements for components
are changing as well. Due to downsizing of the engines,
operating conditions are becoming ever harsher. Therefore,
the components and the applied coatings have to withstand
much higher temperatures and mechanical loads. As a coa-
ting solution, non-hydrogenated ta-C coatings are a good
candidate, because they offer increased thermal stability
and excellent mechanical and tribological properties. In
combination with suitable lubricants, friction coefficients
can be as low as 0.01 to 0.04; which is called superlubricity.
Arc Technology
The most common technology to produce ta-C, is by arc
technology. This is a well-established process in all Hauzers
Flexicoat®
models, initially with conventional circular arc
cathodes and now available with CARC+
technology. This
process can be characterized by short cycle times, which
means high deposition rate, high hardness (5000HV) and
a good controllable process window. One disadvantage of
ta-C by arc technology is the emission of droplets during
deposition, leading to an increased roughness of the coating.
Such a combination of roughness and high hardness of the
coating will lead to severe damage of any counterpart in a
tribological contact. For automotive applications, polishing of
the coating is therefore absolutely mandatory.
Pegasus Project
The number of defects and asperities in the coating can be
significantly reduced by the integration of plasma filtering,
such as filtered arc, but the reduced deposition rate caused
HIPIMS Carbon Coatings
Good Adhesion, Low Roughness,
Superlubricity
By Ruud Jacobs, Process Manager
Tribological Coatings
High expectations for tribological coatings enhance the need for innovative technologies. In the Pegasus Project,
IHI Hauzer Techno Coating has started the development of a novel version of ta-C, produced by High Power Impulse
Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) technology.

9. by filtering increases the overall cost so much that it cannot
compete with the combination of unfiltered arc coating
processes and subsequent polishing of the coated surface.
Therefore, alternative methods to produce dense, defect-
free ta-C coatings would be highly advantageous for various
applications within the automotive industry. In Germany the
Pegasus project has been initiated to make superlubricity
useable in automotive applications. In this project, multiple
leadingGermancompaniesandresearchinstitutesareworking
together on coatings, coating processes and lubricants, with a
focus on all tribological systems in engines and drive trains.
Hauzer contributed to the project by developing a novel ta-C
produced by HIPIMS technology.
ta-C by HIPIMS
By DC or pulsed DC sputtering, it is very well possible to
produce non-hydrogenated carbon coatings, but they will
be relatively soft (2000HV). The cathode discharge is not
energetic enough to ionize any of the sputtered carbon atoms,
which is necessary to create sp3 bonding in the growing film.
However, the high ionization degree of the plasma generated
in the HIPIMS discharge does provide the conditions for
deposition of highly dense, defect-free and extremely smooth
hydrogen free ta-C coatings.
This development has been carried out in a Hauzer
Flexicoat®
1200 machine (figure 1) in our competence
centre in Venlo. This machine is equipped with four sputter
cathodes, of which two can be switched to HIPIMS mode.
To be able to run the cathodes in HIPIMS mode, apart from
dedicated power supplies, the magnetic configuration of
the cathodes has been optimized. The results discussed
below are measured on highly polished HSS test pieces that
were positioned over the loading zone of the machine
and rotating in 2-fold rotation.
Coating Roughness
Due to the application of HIPIMS technology the coating is
very dense and its surface is very smooth (figure 2). With
Rpk values typically well below 100nm, and Ra values
below 10nm, the number of defects/droplets in this coating
is extremely low. For a ta-C coating by arc, roughness
values are higher by a factor ten.
Figure 1: Top view cross section of the Hauzer Flexicoat®
1200
in HIPIMS carbon setup
Figure 2: Surface comparison of ta-C produced with HIPIMS
and with circular arc technology
9

10. 10 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
Figure 4: Calotest image of a HIPIMS coating, graded adhesion
layer [A] with ta-C [B] on top
Figure 5: Rockwell Indentation of the HIPIMS ta-C, judged at
HF2: good adhesion
Coating Hardness
The hardness of ta-C depends on the energy of the impinging
carbon atoms or ions and on the temperature during the
deposition. In arc processes, the evaporation of the material
takes place in the cathode spot with its extremely high energy
density. This is the reason that nearly all carbon particles that
have been evaporated from the target, will be ionized. In a
sputter discharge the ionization degree of carbon particles
will only be a few percent. In HIPIMS deposition it is possible
to create a fair amount of carbon ions, even though it will be
less than in arc processes. For the HIPIMS pulse parameters,
the settings have been optimized to achieve good hardness
results. Additionally, the deposition temperature should be
kept as low as possible. When the deposition temperature
is controlled below 150°C, hardness values of the ta-C of
3500HV have been produced.
Temperature Stability
The temperature stability of ta-C by HIPIMS has been
investigated in an annealing test, where the mechanical
properties of the coating were tested after four hours of
steady state at different temperatures. Below 500°C there
is no change in mechanical properties detectable; above
500°C, evaporation of the coating begins.
Friction properties - Superlubricity
The coefficient of friction (COF) of ta-C against steel will
decrease significantly when Poly-Alpha-Olefin (PAO) with
Glycerol-Mono-Oleat (GMO) additives are being used as a
lubricant. The hydroxyl-group (-OH) of the GMO additive will
bond with the dangling carbon bonds in the tribo-contact,
forming an approximate 2 nm tribo-layer which leads to a
reduction of friction of 75 percent compared to lubricated
steel to steel contact. The COF decreases to values of
around 0.02. At these levels, superlubricity is achieved. As
an environmental benefit, this combination of ta-C - Steel -
PAO-GMO might allow to remove certain metal containing
additives in the lubricants.
Coating Adhesion and Thickness
The adhesion of the ta-C film has been characterized by
Rockwell indentation and scratch test. Good adhesion quality
was found for both tests: HF1 to HF2 in the Rockwell test
and in the scratch test an Lc2 of 50N (figure 3). An etching
step with Ar-ions and a thin metallic interface layer are
responsible for a good adhesion to the substrate (figure 4
and 5). This is followed by a gradient layer which acts as a
support layer and a very good adhesion layer to the final ta-C
topcoat. The thickness of the adhesion layers does typically
not exceed 0,5μm. The thickness of the functional layer has
been varied between 0,5 and 1,2 μm.
Figure 3: Scratch test of the HIPIMS ta-C, showing an Lc2 and
Lc3 value of approx. 50N
50N

11. 1111
Figure 6: The use of Hydrogen-free DLC improves the binding with the
engine oil (additives) (Source: www.Nissan-global.com)
Figure 8: Very low coefficients of friction of various ta-C versions, in GMO
and Glycerin (Pegasus)
Figure 7: Coefficient of friction against steel in a cam - valve lifter contact
(Source: Kano et al.: Proceedings of World Tribology Congress III, 2005)
For the HIPIMS ta-C, friction tests in
standard engine oil show slightly better
friction of ta-C against steel, compared to
hydrogenated DLC against steel. Multiple
tribological tests within the Pegasus
project have shown that the addition of
ester-containing additives decreases the
coefficient of friction with more than 50
percent. This corresponds perfectly with
the expectations concerning ta-C coatings.
Outlook
For the next phase in the development, a more detailed
investigation on tribological properties of the ta-C
film will be carried out, followed by sampling on
components to study the tribological behaviour in the
actual applications. This will mainly concern automotive
components, where this coating should provide low
friction and good wear resistance in low viscosity oils,
also at higher temperatures. An alternative, completely
different application for this coating could be cutting
tools for drilling non-ferrous metals and (fibre reinforced)
plastics. Especially in applications where polishing
of the coated part is complicated because of difficult
shapes, this coating may provide a good alternative for
ta-C arc coatings.

12. 12 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
Dörrenberg is located in the heart of the German steel region,
Engelskirchen. “This was the cradle of German steel because
of the availability of iron ore, coal and water,” Thomas
explains. “Many steel factories are in a circle of twenty
kilometres from us, although several large ones relocated
to the Ruhr area, following the coal. Our specialty is the
production of special steels, we develop them ourselves and
afterwards we harden them. After tool production they come
back to us for coating. Some automotive brands even define
our special steel in their specifications.
The automotive trend of weight reduction is actually in our
favour, because these new materials are responsible for
more wear on tools, which means they need to be coated.
Our experience in this business gives us a broad know how
of the connection between the steel and the coating layers.”
Firemen Instructions
Thomas grins. “Sometimes the steel used in cars is so thin
and hard that instructions are printed on the car about the
exact location where firemen can cut the roof open. Well,
hard steels need coated tools with specific characteristics.
Our business area Coating Hardening is a bit special within
Dörrenberg, because it is the only service company. In this
business unit we employ seventy people and realise thirteen
million euro turnover.
Hauzer Flexicoat®
1200 for hybrid technology
“Nitriding and PVD, first four days
production, now overnight”
Nitriding and PVD in One Process
“A Huge Step Forward in Time and Quality”
Founded one hundred and fifty years ago
and still at the forefront of steel business;
Dörrenberg Edelstahl in Germany is a company
to admire. “With a keen eye on technological
development, we choose the ones that give
our customers value for money,” Thomas
Passberger, division manager Coating
Hardening at Dörrenberg, says.

13. 13
We are specialised in treatment of all kinds of punching
and forming tools, large and small, from a few grams to
twenty tonnes a piece. Every year we treat more than one
million tools. Our services comprise every link of the chain.
Hardening, nitriding, hard material coating, assembly,
disassembly, pre-treatment and post-treatment; we do it all.”
Overnight
“Since about seven years we offer the service of nitriding
together with physical vapour deposition (PVD) for tools
that cannot be treated with chemical vapour deposition
(CVD),” Thomas says. “Sometimes even minimal changes in
dimensions are causing problems, as seen in cold forming,
hydroforming or aluminium forming. The hybrid technology,
combining these two technologies in one batch, is a good
alternative. Nitriding ensures a good support for the hard
coating and together it results in a much higher load bearing
capacity. Conventionally, the treatment took three to four
days with in between a polishing step. Last year we decided
to improve on this process. The result has been beyond
expectations, it is really a huge step forwards for us in
time and quality. With our Hauzer Flexicoat®
1200 we now
offer this hybrid technology, so we can produce overnight
and with a much better result. We offer the technology
with the coatings aluminium titanium nitride, aluminium
chrome nitride, chrome nitride and titanium chrome nitride.
Our reason to buy the Hauzer machine were threefold. We
wanted more capacity, we wanted to coat larger tools and
we saw the immense advantages of the new technology.”
3D Printed Sand
Dörrenberg’s keen eye on technogical development does not
stop at steel, hardening and coating. Thomas shows some
pictures of the newest 3D printing machine at Dörrenberg.
“This machine uses sand with a binding material to print a
mould for our steel foundry,” he explains. “After printing, the
remaining loose sand will be shaken off and we pour the
steel. Thus we produce steel moulds with very complex and
precise geometries. When the steel mould is ready, all sand
is removed and can be reused in the next print. The base
will be finished and the work surfaces will be hardened with
induction. They sometimes say that 3D printing will change
the ways of manufacturing, well I completely agree. There
are still a lot of challenges to make sure we will never be
bored.”
Dörrenberg Edelstahl, at the forefront of steel business

14. 14 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
Cleaning of substrates is the most critical preparation
step prior to coating. Insufficient cleaning will always
result in delamination of the coating. Typically substrate
cleaning consists of aqueous cleaning in a separate
cleaning line and etching in the PVD machine. As
an alternative to the conventional method of Ar-ion
etching in low pressure argon atmosphere, this article
explores the so-called method ‘plasma cleaning’.
Although the plasma source etching provides a stable and
reproducible in situ substrate cleaning method, there are
also some disadvantages. When the substrate geometry is
getting more complex, the etching will become more difficult.
Shadow effects from edges result in rapidly decreasing etch
rates in corners and holes. The result is that contaminations
on these positions are difficult to remove. On top of that
the high difference in etch rate can result in re-deposition
of etched material from the regions of high etch rate to the
regions of low etch rate. So instead of cleaning the corners
and holes, they are effectively contaminated by etching.
Hydrocarbon Contamination
Another disadvantage of argon etching is the low etch rate of
hydrocarbon contaminations. Typical residual contaminations
after aqueous cleaning consist of polishing pastes, oils and
greases which often contain hydrocarbons. Additionally the
process itself can generate hydrocarbon contaminations. For
example, in consecutive DLC batches, the coating generated
by the previous batch can contaminate the substrates of the
next batch. This occurs for example during heating when
heater elements are not properly cleaned. DLC coating can
evaporate from the heater elements and some hydrocarbon
contamination is deposited on uncoated parts. These
hydrocarbons can be etched away by Ar-ion etching but
especially in corners and in areas that are generally difficult
to etch some contaminations remains after etching. This can
be seen on the test pieces in figure 1.
Plasma Cleaning,
a Viable Alternative
Figure 1: The left picture shows delamination of a DLC coating in the
corner of a substrate. Potential cause is hydrocarbon contaminations
deposited during heating. The right picture shows the same test piece
after aborting the process after heating and Ar-ion etching step.
Hydrocarbon contaminations are clearly visible near the corner, and
these contaminations could not be removed by Ar-ion etching.
Heaters were not properly cleaned to visualize the effect.
By Erik Hermans, Process Engineer

15. Plasma Cleaning
To improve the substrate cleaning, a new cleaning method
‘plasma cleaning’ has been investigated. This technology
uses a mixture of gases for a chemical cleaning and
Ar-ion bombardment of the substrates. By using different
gas mixtures in combination with plasmas, the gases are
activated and subsequently react with the contaminations,
resulting in volatile species which can be pumped out of the
system. This mechanism should be especially effective at
removing hydrocarbon contaminations.
Carbon Coatings
The investigation of plasma cleaning has been performed
on a Hauzer Flexicoat®
1200 sputter and Plasma Assisted
Chemical Vapour Deposition (PACVD) coating system typically
used for deposition of carbon coatings. It is equipped with
four Unbalanced Magnetron (UBM) sputter cathodes and
an Ar-ion source. The system is equipped with additional
hardware and software to introduce other gases used for
plasma cleaning. The gas mixture is introduced through the
central gas pipes in the machine and the Ar-ion source is used
to activate the gas mixture. The tests reported here were
performed at a temperature of about 200 °C for tribological
coatings, but the plasma cleaning is also successfully tested
for nitride coatings at temperatures up to 600 °C.
Simulation Complex Geometries
The effect of this new plasma cleaning was investigated
by measuring the adhesion of DLC coating on HSS test
pieces using Rockwell. To simulate substrates with complex
geometries, the test pieces were positioned in a corner.
Additionally the tests were performed in the machine
immediately after DLC coating was performed. This was
done to increase the amount of hydrocarbon contaminations
and thus intentionally create worse conditions to prove the
effect of the new cleaning method.
Uniform Adhesion
The plasma cleaning optimization required fine tuning of the
gas pressure and gas flow ratios, but clear improvements
have been reached. Picture 2 shows the difference between
argon etching and plasma cleaning on a HSS test piece
placed in a 90 degree corner. With argon etching there is full
delamination observed around the Rockwell indentation up
to a distance of 15-20 mm from the bottom plate. Only at the
30 mm distance of the bottom plate adhesion is acceptable.
With plasma cleaning no difference in adhesion can be
observed over the height of the test pieces. The same level
of adhesion could be reached in the edge compared to flat
surfaces.
15
Figure 2: The effect of plasma cleaning versus standard argon etching on the
Rockwell adhesion of HSS test piece in an edge profile.
Sufficient Edge Cleaning
A further test was done to investigate the effectiveness of
plasma cleaning for complex geometries. Tests not described
in detail here have shown that plasma cleaning does not
etch metals but only effectively removes hydrocarbon
contaminations. To test the effectiveness of hydrocarbon
removal we investigated the plasma cleaning effect on DLC
coated test pieces. DLC coated test pieces were placed
in corner as shown earlier and were treated with plasma
cleaning. Picture 3 shows a comparison of the normalized
(maximum rate = 1) profile of plasma cleaning of a DLC
substrate versus argon etching of a HSS substrate. For argon
etching the etch rate strongly decreases close to the edge,
which explains why good adhesion is difficult to reach with
substrates of complex geometries.
Ar-ion
etching
Plasma
Cleaning

16. 16 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
However, for plasma cleaning the decrease in ‘etch’ rate
is much less significant. With plasma cleaning there is
sufficient cleaning at the edge, so it is more suitable for
complex geometries.
Optimizing Process Parameters
Finally the plasma cleaning trials were done with various
substrate geometries. These trails clearly showed that
the adhesion is significantly improved compared to argon
etching. An example is shown in figure 4. For each product
type the adhesion can be further improved by optimizing the
process parameters, for example gas ratios and pressure.
Furthermore, a combination of plasma cleaning and argon
etching can be used to combine the positive effects of both
technologies and make sure all types of contaminations
are removed.
Conclusion
Plasma cleaning is a very useful addition to Ar-ion etching
to clean hydrocarbon contaminations from the substrates.
Plasma cleaning offers improved cleaning in complex
geometries and is very effective at removing hydrocarbon
contaminations. Therefore, plasma cleaning can increase
the coating adhesion and improve the product quality. The
plasma cleaning is a robust and reproducible process,
which can be combined with conventional plasma source
etching. Plasma cleaning is available for all Hauzer
Flexicoat®
platforms.
Figure 3: Etch profile of argon etching
versus plasma cleaning on a test
piece in an edge profile.
Figure 4: The adhesion of a DLC coating on a complex geometry substrate
for Ar-ion etching and plasma cleaning. Argon etching results in spontaneous
delamination of the coating (a), while with plasma cleaning good adhesion
is obtained all over the product (b).
30 mm
15 mm
0 mm
B
A

17. Automotive Market China
“Many Opportunities for
Tribological Coatings”
1717
Xia explains that the heavy pollution in China is a large driver
for innovation in China. “In 2015 we fully complied with our
national standard 4, comparable to EURO 4, which means
NOx emissions of less than 0.25 g/km. The next step, national
standard 5 comparable to EURO 5, has to be achieved by the
end of 2018, which means NOx emissions of less than 0.18
g/km. Especially the particulate matter content will drop 82
percent In 2020 the estimates are that we will produce 30
million cars of which approximately one million will be hybrid
cars, driven by government subsidies and advantages in the
license system.”
Gasoline Cars
Tribological coatings can make a big difference in the reduction
of wear and friction, which is key to the reduction of CO2
emissions. “Diesel engines need physical vapour deposition
(PVD) coatings, because the injection pressure goes up to at
least 1600 bars. And now you see that our local manufacturers
of fuel injection systems, such as Longkou Longben, want to
comply with global standards and invest in our machine. But
that is not all. In gasoline the trend is to develop small capacity
engines with high output. This means that the tappets, piston
rings, piston pins and plungers also need to be coated to
withstand the higher pressure and achieve a long lifetime.
Since the 1990s Chinese car manufacturers cooperate with
European suppliers. They are following the European trends.
This means all technology for cleaner cars is available and the
government is supporting that we use it.”
Longkou Longben
Longkou Longbeng, manufacturer of fuel injection systems,
recently invested in a Hauzer Flexicoat®
1200 for tribological
coatings. Longben is one of the biggest manufacturers of fuel
injection systems in China and they cooperate with all major
diesel engine manufacturers. To comply with the Euro IV and
V emission rules, Longbeng is developing and investing a lot
in improving quality and capacity. Mr. Zhang Hong Min, Chief
Engineer of Longbeng, says that the PVD project was already
planned in 2010. “We investigated all major PVD coating
system suppliers and did several rounds of test. We decided
upon Hauzer, because they can supply a large machine for the
best quality coatings. They gained their experience when they
developed the first machine with the global market leader for
diesel injection systems in the early days and that shows in the
coatings. Another advantage for us is that they only focus on
machine building itself.”
The automotive market in China is growing steadily, estimated 3.5 percent
per year until 2020. “Although diesel engines are not as popular here as
in Europe, I still see a lot of opportunities for tribological coatings in our
country,” says Yongwen Xia, Sales Department Manager Hauzer Shanghai.
Automotive Production Figures 2015
Total production of vehicles: 24,503,330
Total sales of vehicles: 24,597,600
Diesel engine vehicle production 2,558,200
Diesel engine vehicle sales: 2,573,600
Source: China Association of Automobile
Manufacturers, March 2016
Yongwen Xia, Sales Department
Manager Hauzer Shanghai

18. 18 No. 27 | April 2016 | Hauzer for You
New Control System
for Stable Machine
Since Hauzer started building plasma coating machines
in 1983, most of these machines are still in production.
The key success factors are regular maintenance and
the possibility to upgrade the machines to more
advanced technologies.
Added functionalities and future reliability are important
aspects of upgrades. Albert Hendriks, Sales Manager
Upgrades: “Last year we upgraded many machines with our
CARC+
technology for smooth arc coatings, we added extra
sputter cathodes and we replaced old generation power
supplies and pumps. Often when we upgrade a machine,
upgrading the control system is also necessary, because
changes cannot be made in the old system. The suppliers of
machine components and software upgrade their systems
nearly every year and in a few years’ time the connections
between old systems and new components cannot be made
anymore. Regrettably, this not only means replacing the PC,
it also means that all data has to be transferred in a machine
specific way, which needs a lot of software engineering work.
On the bright side, the machine will be better protected from
viruses, more stable and will no longer be a risk for production
standstill. The control system consists of the operating
system, databases and the PLC. Whenever it is replaced, we
will upgrade the Citect version and change the database from
MsAccess to MySQL, we will test all data, all links will be
checked and changed where necessary. The result will be a
reliable machine, ready for years of production again.”
Maintenance is important, but how do you know what your
machine needs? A scan and inspection visit give answers.
“First we make a machine specific risk analysis of the critical
machine components,” Albert explains. “So we know the cur-
rent status of the machine. Then we analyze what it takes to
keep the machine running smoothly for the next five to ten
years, taking into account the processes required. The risk
analysis looks for example at turbo pumps, power supplies,
control system, PLC and mass flow controller. For every com-
ponent we define a priority based on supplier support and
severity upon component failure. When components are not
supported by the supplier anymore, it will result in a higher
replacement priority.”
Underrated Machine Parts
John Claessen, Field Service Engineer, travels around the
world to keep Hauzer machines in excellent working order. “I
inspect the complete machine,” John adds. “Due to my broad
experienceIalsoconcentrateontheolderpartsofthemachine.
Also the performance of the machine and the water system
receive my attention. The water system is typically a part of
the machine that is underrated. With a properly working water
system, machine performance can increase significantly. To
minimize the risk of long machine downtime, it is advisable to
replace power supplies and turbo pumps with modern versions
that are supported by the suppliers.”
Inspection Visit
Albert Hendriks
Sales Manager Consumables
John Claessen
Field Service Engineer

19. “In our engineering department we are currently critically
reviewing all our machine manufacturing data,” Hirotsugu
explains, “we are cutting them up in building blocks, so-
called modules. We are optimizing the modules by for
example minimizing their dependencies and merging historical
variations.Atthesametimewearedefiningarangeofmodules
that will really create value for our customers and give them a
choice in combinations. This way our customers will receive
the widest possible choice in machines, which we can build as
efficiently as possible.”
Modular Design
“The principle described here is called modular design and
it is also used by several mass manufacturing companies
e.g. automobile manufacturers like Scania and Volkswagen,”
Hirotsugu continues. “In mass manufacturing industries
this is also called mass customization. The personal com-
puter industry is also very adept in using this method of
personalization in combination with production efficiency.
We learn from them.”
Changing Mindset
“Our aim of modular design is to visualize the predefined
modules and their selections,” Hirotsugu says. “and to make
it logical how to configure the modules. One of the results
will be a multi-level parts lists, with links to the modules.
This way we can change our engineering process from
engineering to order (ETO) into configuring to order (CTO).
However important these practical implications, the key to
success of modular design will be changing our mindset. The
module selection will no longer be central to our engineering,
instead adding value to our customers with machine design
will be central. To help our engineers with this change of
mindset we train our engineers in value engineering. We
also use the lean manufacturing and kaizen methodology
to optimize engineering and production processes. This way
engineers can focus on tasks that add value and I believe
this will create a upwards spiral of high value machines and
more efficient engineering and production.”
19
Hirotsugu Chishina
Manager Engineering
Modular Design
Hauzer’s Vision
on Flexible
Machines
Technology for you
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Deliveries are in accordance with the general conditions, of which we will send you a copy at your request.
Mizuho Corporate Bank BIC: MHCBDEDD • IBAN DE10300207003114133003
Fortis Bank N.V. BIC:FTSBNL2R • IBAN:NLBFTSB064 01 04 576 • Registration KvK Venlo no. 12021235 – VAT no. NL8091.91.428B01
Deliveries are in accordance with the general conditions, of which we will send you a copy at your request.
F850
1
1306
Shutter drive
door F850
1305
shutter position
blanked
DRIVE ARMS and
PLATES
1320
Shutter
arm/plates
SPU
F850
1330
Shutter fixation
Bottom
F850
FIXATION IN
RECIPIENT/DOOR
Module
shutter
SPU
body
F850
Module
shutter
SPU
Door
F850
shutter position
blanked F850
RECIPIENT/DOOR
SUB-MODULE
1331
Shutter fixation
Wall
F850
1323
Shutter
arm/plates
CARC+
F850
Module
shutter
CARC+
Door
F850
Module
shutter
CARC+
body
F850
1307
Shutter drive
body F850
Flexible design according to customers’ wishes, that is what makes Hauzer machines popular. Hirotsugu Chishina,
Manager Engineering, explains how this characteristic can be valued, while at the same time improving efficiency.
“It is not a contradiction, it can certainly be done, but it is a challenge.”
Example of modular design for shutters of the Hauzer Flexicoat®
850

20. Meet us…
Hauzer would like to welcome you to the following conferences and exhibitions, where we will be present.
ICMCTF
April 25-29, 2016
San Diego
USA
36. INTERNATIONALES WIENER
MOTORENSYMPOSIUM
Zum 36. Internationalen Wiener Motorensymposium am 7. und 8.
Mai 2015 trafen sich wie jedes Jahr über 1000 führende Ingenieure
der Motorenentwicklung und Wissenschaftler aus aller Welt. Sie prä­
sentierten ihre neuesten Entwicklungen und gaben Ausblicke auf
zukünftige Trends. Der vorliegende Bericht stellt zum Teil gekürzte
Zusammenfassungen der Vorträge der einzelnen Autoren vor.
AUTOR
Univ.-Prof. Dr. techn.
Hans Peter Lenz
ist Vorsitzender des Öster­
reichischen Vereins für
Kraftfahrzeugtechnik (ÖVK)
in Wien (Österreich).
2
TAGUNGSBERICHT WIEnER MOTOREnSyMpOSIUM
Wiener Motorensymposium
Wiener Motoren
Symposium
April 28-29, 2016
Vienna
Austria
SVC
May 11-12, 2016
Indianapolis
USA
Automotive Interiors
Expo
May 31-June 2, 2016
Stuttgart
Germany
HIPIMS conference
June 29-30, 2016
Sheffield
UK