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COATING DETAILS
The team at ACS looks forward to working closely with you to identify the ideal coating solution to
meet your needs. Whether you’re looking to coat a new product currently in development or enhance
an existing item, we’ll be glad to find the right PVD coating solution.
There are a variety of coatings you can choose from. Each of them will form a shield around your
product, resulting in a wear resistant surface.
Selecting the right type of coating can be confusing. Often times, we find that our customers are
looking for a particular type but there may be a better solution. If you’re not sure where to begin or
just want to double check, don’t hesitate to contact us!
 
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE VARIOUS COATING
PROPERTIES:
 Titanium Nitride (TiN)
 Titanium Carbo-Nitride (TiCN)
 Titanium Aluminium Nitride (TiAIN)
 Aluminium Titanium Nitride (AlTiN)

Chrome Nitride (CrN)
 Zirconium Nitride (ZrN)
 nACo®-3
 nACRo®-3
 nACVIc®
Titanium Nitride (TiN)
 Color: Gold
 Nano-hardness: 24
 Thickness [um]: 1-7
 Friction-(fretting): 0.55
 Maximum usage temperature: 600
 Applications & Characteristics: Universal & Decorative purposes; Classical base coating
o CUTTING: Universal
o FORMING: Molds and dies
o MACHINE COMPONENT: Universal use, also for decorative purposes

Titanium Carbo-Nitride (TiCN)

 Color: Blue-Grey
 Nano-hardness: 37
 Thickness [um]: 1-4
 Friction-(fretting): 0.20
 Maximum usage temperature: 400
 Applications & Characteristics: Classical basic coating based on TiN with carbon, high
hardness, low friction coefficient, low heat resistance
o CUTTING: Tapping and punching; Milling for HSS and HM with coolant
o FORMING: Molds and dies, punching

Titanium Aluminium Nitride (TiAIN)

 Color: Violet-Black
 Nano-hardness: 28
 Thickness [um]: 1-4
 Friction-(fretting): 0.60
 Maximum usage temperature: 700
 Applications & Characteristics: Universal, especially for drilling, coating for cutting with
HSS in the 90’s, high heat resistance
o CUTTING: Drilling and universal use, also for weak machines

Aluminium Titanium Nitride (AlTiN)

 Color: Black
 Nano-hardness: 34
 Thickness [um]: 1-4
 Friction-(fretting): 0.70
 Maximum usage temperature: 900
 Applications & Characteristics: Universal for drilling, milling, hobbing, dry machining,
coating for cutting with carbide in the 90’s, with higher Al content and heat resistance
o CUTTING: Milling, hobbing, high performance machining, also dry

Chrome Nitride (CrN)
 Color: Metal-Silver
 Nano-hardness: 18
 Thickness [um]: 1-7
 Friction-(fretting): 0.30
 Maximum usage temperature: 700
 Applications & Characteristics: Molds, dies and components, for cutting wood, light
metals, main basic coating for forming
o CUTTING: Cutting wood, light metals like copper, and Al alloys with low Si
o FORMING: Molds and dies
 Zirconium Nitride (ZrN)
 Color: White-Gold
 Nano-hardness: 20
 Thickness [um]: 1-4
 Friction-(fretting): 0.40
 Maximum usage temperature: 550
 Applications & Characteristics: Minimizing build up edges at cutting light metals, also
decorative purposes
o CUTTING: Machining aluminum magnesium, titanium alloys
o MACHINE COMPONENT: For decorative purposes

nACo®-3
 Color: Violet-Blue
 Nano-hardness: 45
 Thickness [um]: 1-4
 Friction-(fretting): 0.45
 Maximum usage temperature: 1200
 Applications & Characteristics: Universal, especially for drilling, reaming and turning, also
for inserts, extended AlTiN with SiN based Nanocomposites
o CUTTING: Hard machining on stable machine, drilling, reaming, grooving

nACRo®-3
 Color: Blue-Grey
 Nano-hardness: 40
 Thickness [um]: 1-7
 Friction-(fretting): 0.35
 Maximum usage temperature: 1100
 Applications & Characteristics: Cutting superalloys, for dry and wet milling, hobbing,
punching, fine blanking, injection forming, AlCrN with SiN based Nanocomposites
o CUTTING: Tough wet cutting of difficult materials (superalloys), micro tools
o FORMING: Friction welding, extrusion, die casting

nACVIc®
 Color: Grey
 Nano-hardness: 40-25
 Thickness [um]: 1-10
 Friction-(fretting): 0.15
 Maximum usage temperature: 450
 Applications & Characteristics: For forming and punching, for cutting of high alloyed
materials, nACRo with DLC top layer
o CUTTING: Tapping of high alloyed materials and titanium
o FORMING: Molds and dies, punching

BENEFITS & ADVANTAGES OF COATING

Some of the benefits and advantages of coating include:
 Improved productivity
 Reduced wear
 Reduced friction (increased lubricity)
 Increased lifespan / longevity of your part
 Use less cutting oils
 Increased quality
 Save fuel
 Increased performance
 Save time & effort
 Increased operating temperatures
 Reduced down time of your machine
 Reduced labor costs
 Reduced cost of tooling
 Less time spent re-testing batches
 Higher speeds & feeds
There are many reasons and benefits for coating an item. For example, some people and
companies look to us for decorative coatings or to apply a coating that will change the color of the
item. These have a visual impact on the item (while also gaining other long-term benefits).
Other times, there is a functional need for applying a coating. Every item and situation is different.
This list is certainly not all encompassing. Depending on your specific need and industry, the
benefits may vary. If you’re looking to coat something and are interested in finding out the benefits of
doing so, please contact us.

QUALITY CONTROL
The quality of our work is something we are constantly concerned with. Every item that passes
through ACS undergoes a quality test. Post-coating processing, testing and inspection assures a
flawless finished product and minimal failures.
After your item has a PVD coating applied in one of our Platit coating machines, we conduct post-
coating testing and inspection.
We conduct a microscopic digital inspection of each batch. We run a myriad of tests that check the
following critical coating characteristics:
 Adhesion
 Thickness
 Hardness
 Smoothness
 Consistency
Our post-coating process can also include a spin in our polishing unit, to eliminate “pellets” that
sometimes occurs during the coating process, or to provide additional smoothness as required.
If you have specific questions on quality control and how it applies to your coating project, please

Coating on tool steels (TS) above 200°C, high speed steels (HSS) 350 - 500°C and on tungsten
carbide (WC) between 350 - 700°

COATING PROPERTIES

Nano- Thickness Friction- Maximum usage

  Color
hardness [um] (fretting) temperature
Titanium Nitride (TiN) Gold 24 1-7 0.55 600
Titanium Carbo-Nitride
Blue-Grey 37 1-4 0.20 400
(TiCN)
Titanium Aluminium
Violet-Black 28 1-4 0.60 700
Nitride (TiAIN)
Aluminium Titanium
Black 34 1-4 0.70 900
Nitride (AlTiN)
Chrome Nitride (CrN) Metal-Silver 18 1-7 0.30 700
Zirconium Nitride (ZrN) White-Gold 20 1-4 0.40 550
nACo®-3 Violet-Blue 45 1-4 0.45 1200
nACRo®-3 Blue-Grey 40 1-7 0.35 1100
nACVIc® Grey 40-25 1-10 0.15 450

 
COATING RECOMMENDATIONS

  Cutting Chip less Forming

 Reaming Injection Stamping
  Drilling Turning Milling Tapping Sawing Forming
Broaching Molding Punching
nACo nACo nACRo AlTiN nACRo nACo nACVIc nACRo® nACVIc
Steels
AlTin AlTin AlTiN nACVIc AlTiN AlTiN nACRo®   nACRo

Hardened  nACo  nACo  nACo nACo nACo nACo nACRo®  nACRo® nACRo®
Steels AlTin AlTin AlTin nACVIc nACo  
AlTin AlTin AlTin

AlloyedSteels nACRo nACo nACRo nACVIc nACRo nACo nACVIc nACVIc nACVIc
Superalloys AlTiN AlTiN AlTiN AlTiN AlTiN AlTiN nACRo® nACRo® nACRo®
nACo nACo nACo nACRo nACRo nACo
Cast Iron      
AlTin AlTin AlTin AlTiN AlTiN AlTin

Aluminium > nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACVIc
12% Si TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN  

Aluminium < TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN  TiCN TiCN TiCN
12% Si ZrN ZrN ZrN ZrN ZrN ZrN      
Copper CrN CrN CrN CrN CrN CrN CrN CrN CrN
Bronze, Brass TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN TiCN
Plastics nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo nACRo
           
Wood
nACVIc nACVIc nACVIc nACVIc nACVIc nACVIc