Integran, Pittsburgh, Pa., says it has demonstrated that its Nanovate CoP (cobalt-phosphorus) coating outperforms hard chrome in corrosion resistance, sliding wear, and cost effectiveness. Its better corrosion resistance is due to its fully dense structure, which provides better protection of steel even at reduced thicknesses. It achieves better sliding wear resistance because its coefficient of friction is lower than that of hard chrome.
Nanovate CoP actually causes very little change to the fatigue performance of the uncoated steel, and in some cases, improves fatigue resistance. This is in contrast to the well-known fatigue debit that hard chrome plating imparts.
Labor normally accounts for around 50% of the total cost of plating. Because the Nanovate CoP process has high efficiency (>90%), it results in an extremely high plating rate (up to 200microns/hour). Material costs account for 10 to 25% of the total cost of plating. While some will note that cobalt is more expensive than chromium, the Nanovate CoP process operates without the need for expensive replenishment chemicals. Cobalt itself is practically the only thing that is needed to operate the process, making the material costs between the two processes very similar.
The thickness of the plating can be reduced while still meeting customer requirements. The effect of lowering thickness further enhances throughput and material costs. The process itself fits right into an existing chrome-plating line with very little modification. The material grinds like hard chrome, uses the same seals as hard chrome, and utilizes the same pre- and post- plating infrastructure.
