What if you want to test an alternative electrolyte? What is the most effective way to optimise your plating parameters?
The OCAS upscaling plating pilot is available for your next generation product development.
No need to interrupt your regular industrial process.
Plating
Surface preparation
The performance of any coating system strongly depends on its surface pre-treatment. Most surface preparation methodologies including solvent/alkaline degreasing, electrolytic degreasing, chemical passivation or mechanical treatment such as blasting, etc. are available on lab scale at OCAS. Our skilled team helps you to select the most suitable technique according to your needs and the compatibility with your industrial process.
Coating application
Looking for a plating solution without the need to interrupt your business? OCAS can assist your R&D by plating your samples according to your needs. In addition to small electrodeposition cells for quick screening trials, OCAS has developed a unique semi-industrial electroplating pilot line. An overhead crane conveys the sample to the different process baths including pre-treatment, intermediate rinsing and coating. Its flexible design allows for different geometries: flat sheets, foil, bolts, wires and cylindrical samples. Baths and auxiliary equipment can handle different electrolytes, aqueous as well as ionic liquids. Being a reference lab for hydrogen, OCAS provides special attention to hydrogen evolution, consequential penetration of hydrogen into the sample and proper resolution by post-treatment.
Modelling
The OCAS applications and solutions team is available to model the electroplating process’ bath fluid dynamics.
Numerical modelling allows to predict the electrolyte flow and distribution of electrical field lines or current density. Thus, considerably reducing the amount of experiments needed. Enhanced insight of the electroplating process allows for further optimisation of the electrodeposition process parameters.
Testing
Corrosion resistance
OCAS is equipped for measuring both local and bulk corrosion properties under various conditions: real-life exposure testing outdoor, in sea water, buried in different soils, etc. To speed up testing, OCAS can also perform accelerated corrosion testing using salt spray cabinet, climate chamber, UV-light, etc.
To investigate the fundamental parameters occurring during corrosion, OCAS carries out electrochemical measurements: cyclic voltametry, polarisation, impedance spectroscopy, hydrogen permeation tests, or advanced techniques such as SVET, SKP and SFC. A smart combination of different test methodologies guarantees the full characterisation of your component.
Mechanical properties
To assess the mechanical performance of a coating layer, we can test tribological properties such as wear, friction and abrasion, hardness (nano-indentation), formability, ductility and adhesion by grinding, scratching, bending and Erichsen cup test.
Non-standard testing
Customised testing methodologies can be developed according to your needs. This may comprise a combination of tests in a tailor-made rig, submitting a sample to a specific loading under specific conditions representative to its service life. These tests yield valuable data of the sample behaviour during exploitation and can be used for modelling lifetime and predictive maintenance.
Characterisation
Finally, OCAS is equipped to fully investigate the coating process result and potential degradation phenomena. Basic equipment for surface characterisation such as surface appearance (colour & gloss) and coating morphology by metallography, stereo- and light optical microscopy, surface topography by 2D and 3D surface roughness analysis and scanning electron microscopy by W or FEG-SEM capable of element mapping. Advanced surface characterisation may include FIB, FEG-EPMA and TEM.
OCAS also realised high-throughput advanced characterisation of corrosion properties by scanning flow cell testing, including chemical analysis of the corrosion products by ICP-MS.
R&D partnerships
OCAS has a long history of successful R&D partnerships with companies and research institutes. We are open to any kind of collaboration and are interested to hear about original ideas or exciting running projects where we could provide technical support leading to the development of novel metallic coatings and to the optimisation of current coatings through process tuning.
“OCAS, your one stop shop for coating-related R&D. From design to application and modelling, to advanced testing and characterisation”
