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High-tech in harmony with the environment

Get a head start and get the most out of your tools and components. Our PVD coating makes your components even more wear-resistant, durable and efficient. This is ecologically sensible and economically beneficial: because what lasts longer is significantly more sustainable and minimizes the downtime of your production.

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PVD technology - put your trust in our experience

Industry and trade have long relied on physical vapor deposition (Physical vapor deposition, PVD for short) when it comes to optimizing the performance and resilience of their tools and components. We have been valued as an ideal partner for customer-specific developments in the field of surface optimization and PVD coating for over 30 years.

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Precisely fitting PVD coatings

Hard, harder: PVD coating! Our wear protection processes and our expertise push the limits of your tools to the limit and enable maximum performance when machining demanding materials.

With a layer that is only 2 to 10 thousandths of a millimeter thick, we make tool steels, powder metallurgical steels and hard metals so much more resilient that the Significantly extend the service life of your tools. Will this transform your production? Absolutely.

Which of our products or PVD processes is best suited to your applications depends on both the intended use and economic considerations. We can say from experience: The optimum coating is always individual and is adapted by us to the requirements of your tool material and the requirements of the respective tool design.

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Collaboration in surface finishing

Better performance for your tools

PVD coating for tools has long been the game changer in the modern manufacturing industry. In a world where every second counts, they can drastically reduce the downtime caused by tool changes. On the one hand, because they are robust and protected against corrosion and abrasion.

On the other hand, due to improved demolding behavior, especially with complex Injection molds and drawing/forming toolsThe manufactured parts slide out of the mold much more easily.

We are happy to advise you

PVD coating process

In the industry you know Various PVD processeswhich differ in their methodology: electron beam evaporation, magnetron sputtering and arc evaporation.

Arc PVD - Due to the high adhesive strength of the layers produced, we rely on the Arc procedure - exclusively and on the basis of our own developments, which are the result of our decades of experience as well as market and customer requirements.

The science behind PVD coating is as useful as it is fascinating. In a vacuum chamber process, metallic materials are vaporized and react with one or more reaction gases to form so-called hard coatings, as they are also known due to their ceramic properties. When applied to the tools, they form an extremely thin but very adhesive protective layer.

Arc evaporation technology

An arc is used to convert a solid metal target into a gaseous state: An electric arc is ignited between the material to be vaporized, the cathode, and an anode, which is nourished by the vaporized material itself and moves more or less randomly across the cathode surface.

Due to the high energy density in the cathode spot - the contact point of the arc on the solid cathode - material is removed there.

Common metals that are used in high-purity solid form as coating materials include titanium and chromium, as well as alloyed cathodes made of titanium-aluminum and chromium-aluminum.

As a result, there are also Various PVD coatings like TiN, TiCN, AlTiN, AlCro or CrNEach with unique properties suitable for specific industrial applications and excellent adhesion.

Your PVD coating: Holds, fits, has no air

A PVD coating adheres to the surface purely adhesively and does not penetrate the base material! Due to its high hardness, it is also brittle and only adheres due to the low layer thicknesses. It is therefore also known as a "thin layer". Because it lies within all tolerances, it does not affect the tool geometry in most cases.

As a customer, you can rely on maximum adhesive strength without having to worry about a loss of hardness, distortion or any influence on the microstructure of the steels or carbide - provided the material has been tempered at a minimum of 200 to 250 °C.

PVD coating process on the machine

More performance layer by layer

Depending on the internal structure of the coating, one speaks of Monolayer, multilayer or nanolayer coatings.

  • With monolayer coatings, the base material and the coating surface have the same composition throughout.
  • With multilayer coatings, different individual layers are placed on top of each other. This combines the favorable properties of the individual layers and reduces residual stresses.
  • Fully automated process sequences make it possible to stack any number of different layers on top of each other within a single layer. As the thickness of the individual layers is only nanometers, these layers are referred to as nanolayers.
Tool coating in the production hall

Surface coatings for all situations

PVD coatings are used for a wide variety of tools and components and are primarily used in the Punching, in the Machining technologythe Forming technology and the Plastics processing in many sectors, including sensitive ones such as medical technology and the food industry:

  • Electrical industry
  • Automotive
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Medical technology
  • Furniture industry
  • Windows/Doors
  • Household appliances
  • Aerospace
  • Motorsport
  • Renewable energies such as solar, wind power
  • Battery technology
  • Food industry
  • Technology for agriculture and forestry
  • Security technology

Important for all coatings!

A PVD coating is there to protect a perfect production tool from wear and make it even more durable and not to compensate for faulty tool preparation - even if it could in theory and sometimes in practice. In other words, the efficiency of any coating also depends on the correct preparation and condition of the tool, especially its surface.

Checklist for the perfect coating

Coating services from GPA

We would love to make your tools indestructible. And to be honest: We are working on it. Our wafer-thin PVD coating protects tool steels, powder metallurgical steels and carbides from wear - and your company from unnecessary maintenance costs and losses due to production downtime.

TiN, TiCN, AlTiN, AlCro, CrN or S-ProtectOur PVD coatings impress with their unique properties and excellent adhesion!

Individual solutions

PVD coatings from GPA are as individual as your components and precision tools. We know that you need customized solutions for your success and understand your individual requirements. We provide you with the best advice first and then the best quality for you.

Areas of application

Fast, faster, GPA Coating

The fact that our PVD coating improves the performance of your tools and components is sustainable, resource-saving and economical. Anyone who works with us also appreciates our reliability, flexibility and adherence to deadlines!

Over the last three decades, we have optimized and simplified our coating processes to such an extent that we can now deliver very quickly: top quality within 2 to 3 days.

Quality control of PVD coatings

"We are proud that we can organize the regular coating and recoating of tools and components in such a stable and reliable way. This saves our customers valuable time. We are often told: Ordering from you is so pleasant because everything is so precise and fast."
- Uwe Haas, Technical Sales

Your advantages at a glance

  • Increased wear resistance and component service life
  • Reduced friction due to smooth surfaces
  • Increasing resilience
  • Cost efficiency for series production
  • Sustainability through environmentally friendly technology
  • Reduction of maintenance and downtimes
  • Less manpower required due to reduced tool maintenance and less tool production
  • Lower costs thanks to less material consumption
  • Faster production speed and larger production batches
  • Less disposal/recycling due to fewer worn tools
  • Less lubricant
  • Reduced cleaning effort for contamination caused by oil and lubricants
  • Energy savings through half as much toolmaking and faster production speed
  • Less material waste
  • Extremely short delivery time

Pick-up & delivery

Efficient logistics: pick-up and delivery service
We collect the tools from you and deliver them - PVD-coated in first-class quality - directly back to you within 2 to 3 days.

Online calculator: How much will your PVD coating cost?

Use our guide price calculator and get a quick and easy overview of costs: Enter your dimensions and data and calculate the standard price for your coating online. Tip: Larger quantities lead to even better prices!

Calculate now

Questions and answers

Please contact us personally if you require further information.

PVD coatings improve the surface properties of tools by applying a very thin but extremely robust coating using physical vapor deposition. This extends the service life and optimizes the performance of the tools.

The longer service life reduces tool downtimes and they need to be changed less often. This directly reduces production costs. In addition, the lower friction enables greater process stability and faster cycle times.

Cutting, punching, drawing and forming tools as well as plastic injection tools and molds. Occasionally also on finished parts.

The different PVD coatings have specific properties and are therefore suitable for different applications and materials. You can get a good overview on our product pages.

In the PVD arc process, an arc is ignited between the chamber and the negative potential cathode, which vaporizes the cathode material.

A large proportion (up to 90 %) of the vaporized material is ionized. The material vapor (cathode material) spreads radially from the cathode surface. Since a negative potential is also applied to the substrate, the ionized material vapour is accelerated towards the substrate. The metal vapor is deposited on the substrate surface with the addition of a reaction gas (nitrogen or carbon carrier gas).

Uniform coating distribution on the substrate surfaces is achieved by continuous movement of the substrates in the coating chamber (up to 3-fold planetary rotation).

In the CVD process, the tools are exposed to considerably higher temperatures, which means that hardness and dimensional accuracy suffer.

Due to the higher energy level of the impinging atoms, the adhesive strength is higher and therefore more suitable for heavily loaded tools. Optically, however, the sputtering process can enable more gloss and also multi-colors, which benefits optically relevant layers.

In machining processes, the functional surfaces wear down due to mechanical stress and corrosion, for example. This wear affects geometries, surface quality and dimensional accuracy.

With a layer thickness of 1.5 to 8 µm, a hardness of up to > 3,500 HV and a coefficient of friction of up to < 0.1 (steel against steel = 1), GPA-Protect® coatings offer effective surface protection without affecting the usual tool tolerances.

Wear protection coatings extend the service life and reduce maintenance costs and set-up times, thus offering production-related and economic benefits.

Do PVD-coated tools extend tool life? Yes, a GPA-Protect® wear protection coating makes the tools harder and more resistant to abrasion, corrosion and other signs of wear.

In addition to the optimization of operating conditions and machining processes, the quality of the tools and components plays an important role in improving tool life.

Calculated in terms of unit costs or tool expenditure, the additional costs for hard coating a tool are negligible. They are amortized through improved tool life, saved set-up costs and improved product quality.

In many cases, coating tools allows processes to be stabilized and thus also improves the quantity produced per unit of time.

Use our calculator and calculate the costs for your coating online.

uring manual tool polishing, the surface structure is gradually removed using abrasives and diamond pastes, eliminating roughness peaks. This reduces surface pressure and facilitates the flow of material when forming steel and in plastic injection molds.

GPA polishing reduces the surface roughness in the functional area. The qualities depend on the requirements and range from a classic line polish in the machining direction to a high gloss.

The tool is then simply recoated. In some cases, thanks to a Duo-Coat layer, you can visually recognize when the layer has been used up and initiate a new coating before the base material is reached.

On average 3 days for the coating. If you need it sooner, please give us a call and we will process it even faster using the fast-track procedure.

Get in touch with us

Do you have questions or are you looking for specific information? Discuss your challenges with us. We look forward to hearing from you. We will of course treat your data confidentially.

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