Tetrabond™ ta-C for Forming & Molding Tools

Smooth Non-hydrogenated DLC Coating

Tetrabond is a non-hydrogenated, tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) coating that belongs to the class of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings. It is a ta-C coating that is tailored to the specific needs of forming and molding tools with an enhanced temperature stability of 500°C.

The thin, smooth and hard coating is designed to accurately reproduce the geometry of complex shaped dies and maintain maximum edge sharpness. Due to its high adhesion resistance against strongly adherent workpiece materials such as non-ferrous metals, Tetrabond is highly suited for forming aluminum. It has a proven track-record in stamping, trimming, blanking, and piercing as well as extrusion of aluminum alloys where it avoids the build-up of material on the tool.

Its very low coefficient of friction makes Tetrabond an economical solution to ensure excellent product quality and improving productivity by reducing the scrap rate on dies for forming non-ferrous metals and on ejector pins, heater blocks and heater tips for plastic molding.

Tetrabond™ can be deposited on a broad range of tooling materials including cold work and hot work steels as well as high speed steels (HSS) and cemented carbide regardless of the tool geometry. It can be applied again after stripping making the best use of expensive forming tools.

Technical Data

 

Material

ta-C

Technology

proprietary PVD Arc

Thickness range

0.5 - 2 μm

Roughness Ra (Rz) as deposited

<0.04µm (<0.7µm)

Adhesion

very good - HF1 to HF2 (depending on tooling material)

Microhardness, HV 0.02

>3000

Friction vs. Steel (dry)

<0.15

Max. service Temperature

500 °C

Process Temperature

<300 °C

Color

Rainbow - dark grey - black