They must be resistant. They must be durable. They must allow extremely precise work and be able to cope with extremely hard materials. And they must only be a few micrometers 'thick' - in other words, significantly thinner than a human hair. Coatings such as BALINIT ALCRONA EVO are masterpieces of materials science.
Gear cutting, milling, drilling, punching or forming - these are standard processes in the metal working industry. However, the materials to be processed are often very hard, and some are also very brittle - for customers in the automotive or aircraft industries, for example. The tools therefore need to be even harder, particularly sharp and especially durable. After all, every time a machine stops because a tool has to be replaced or a workpiece is damaged because of a worn tool, it is a costly waste of time and money.
The most successful coating in the portfolio
Especially in metal cutting, most of these tools are made of high-speed steel (HSS steel) to withstand the extreme mechanical and thermal loads. Without an additional coating, however, they would wear out within a few hours or even minutes. With BALINIT ALCRONA, Oerlikon launched the first universal coating for these applications in 2004 . It is still one of the most successful coatings in the portfolio today.
The superiority of Oerlikon's coatings is based on three pillars:
- unique knowledge in the field of materials and coating technology
- innovative coating equipment
- state-of-the-art production processes and globally applied quality standards.
These features are also reflected in the latest coating BALINIT ALCRONA EVO, which Oerlikon introduced exactly 20 years after BALINIT ALCRONA and 14 years after BALINIT ALCRONA PRO: Developed by Oerlikon scientists, the coating is based on aluminum chromium nitride (AlCrN) and is only 0.003 millimeters "thick". It is applied to the metal of the tool in an Oerlikon Balzers coating system. The process is called physical vapor deposition and is precisely controlled by sophisticated software.
20 years after BALINIT ALCRONA, BALINIT ALCRONA EVO takes Oerlikon's customers a decisive step further
One third longer service tool life
The result is an optimum coating structure. Tools coated with BALINIT ALCRONA EVO last up to a third longer than those coated with the previous BALINIT ALCRONA PRO coating.
A Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry reported that its HSS hobs coated with BALINIT ALCRONA EVO stay sharp over 40% longer when dry machining metal. This means greater efficiency and a significant reduction in costs: less tool wear, fewer tool changes and less downtime in production.
Sustainable through reconditioning
But at some point, even the toughest coating reaches the end of its life. Then the tool needs to be changed. Changed - but not disposed of. This is because BALINIT ALCRONA EVO can be reconditioned with almost no loss of performance. The result is not only lower costs for new tools, but also enhanced sustainability. Lower material consumption and longer tool lifecycles benefit both the environment and the company.