Getting to the root of observations at the Surface Analysis Lab

Andreas Göb, head of the lab, and his team spend their time supporting Ionbond customers as well as Ionbond development projects in several ways. An important part is quality control on all produced batches, to see if the specified coating properties like layer thickness, surface roughness or adhesion of the coating on the substrate comply with the specification. Depending on the application and the workpiece material, substrate hardness is also measured to prove that it was not affected by the deposition temperature. If everything meets specifications, a certificate of conformity is issued by the lab.

Another critical aspect of the work is failure analysis and learning from it, whether the failure is a visible coating delamination, detectable immediately after processing or feedback from customers about product performance. Andreas: “Since we have the analytical capabilities and expertise, customers come to us to help them figure out how to resolve these issues – whether they arise before, during or after coating.”

The lab is equipped with state-of-the-art analysis techniques for destructive and nondestructive testing. Andreas: “Because we often work with expensive products, all routine destructive tests are done on witness parts that receive the same treatment as the real parts. Occasionally, especially when we are solving a problem, customers will give us permission to cut into the actual component.”