Equipment and Facilities

 

The Surface Engineering Institute has a wide range of coating systems as well as equipment for the production of jointed composites. With the available equipment, coatings from a few micrometers (PVD coatings) up to several millimeters (thermal spraying coatings) as well as joining composites can be produced at the IOT not only on an experimental scale but also for prototype production.

For the production of PVD coatings, both laboratory-scale and industrially used systems are available. The existing equipment covers all process variants available on the market.

In the field of thermal spraying, industry-oriented processes and coating systems are used. In addition to systems for coating build-up, systems for powder modification and state-of-the-art diagnostic systems are also in use.

Furthermore, the IOT has several furnaces of different sizes for the production of brazed joints and diffusion-welded components in vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere. For brazing under inert gas, two additional induction systems are available. The presence of an arc furnace and a casting furnace enables the production of brazing materials on an experimental scale.

For the simulation of relevant processes in coating technology, further developments of commercial programs as well as program systems developed at the institute itself are available for the description of the PVD sputtering process and the particle behavior in atmospheric plasma spraying. The Surface Engineering Institute has also a large number of physical and chemical analysis facilities for determining physical, tribological and chemical properties of the material and coating systems.