Hardcoat Anodizing is well sought after in the metal finishing industry. You may wonder what makes this process so desirable? And why do customers love using Aerospace Metals for their hard coat needs?
Hardcoat Anodizing aluminum is popular because it allows the aluminum to maintain their advantageous qualities while maintaining its greatly improved wear, resistance to heat and corrosion. The hardcoat is achieved by applying a dense anodic coating of aluminum oxide. This process results in an impenetrable, abrasion resistant oxide film and excellent dielectric properties. Thickness is an optional addition for supplemental strength and corrosion resistance. The thickness measurement involves both the buildup as well as the penetration. Abrasion thickness varies depending on the coating thickness. In projects where extreme abrasion resistance is necessary, parts should not be sealed – to avoid transpiring of softness. In projects where increased corrosion resistance is required, parts should be sealed – in a solution of dichromate.
Aerospace Metals is proud to offer hard coat anodizing nationwide. This non conductive, sterilized coating improves aesthetics and allows for a wide variety of applications industry wide. Our color capabilities include: red, blue, gold, black, green and orange.
The appearance of Hardcoat Anodized Aluminum can take on one of two classes: dyed and undyed
Class 1 – undyed: The color of hard coat anodize bases on the specific alloy and the anodic thickness. Some will take on dark gray or black color while others are more bronze-gray in color.
Class 2 – dyed: The most common dyed coating for hardcoat anodizing is black. However, A.M. offers a variety of colors including those mentioned above.
A.M ensures:
Tolerance control – Hardcoat Anodizing follows the contour of the part with uniform buildup, allowing direct tolerance control. Holes 1/4 -inch or larger in diameter will show coverage. It is also very effective on parts with unusual shapes due to the pristine throwing power obtained in the hard anodizing process.
Wear resistance: Hard anodized coatings exceed 10x more wear resistant than standard anodized aluminum. Hard anodized aluminum exhibits only half the amount of wear that cyanide case hardened steel shows after 50,000 cycles of the standard Tabor abrasion tester.
Hardness: Microhardness tests on hard anodized aluminum typically have values of 500 to 530 VPN. Microhardness is nearly independent of coating thickness up to 1.5 mils.
Heat Resistance: Hard anodized coated parts can withstand short exposures of temperatures up to 2,000 degrees centigrade due to the inert nature of the coating.
Thermal properties: Hard anodized coatings exhibit very low thermal conductivity and expansion but excellent thermal emissivity. At higher thickness, emissivity is comparable to a black body in terms of heat dissipation, offering little advantage to dying it black.
Corrosion Resistance: Hard anodized coatings typically pass the 1000-hour 5% salt spray test (ASTM B-117)
Electrical Properties: Hard anodized coatings are excellent electrical insulators, exhibiting electrical resistance on the same order of magnitude as porcelain and glass.
Aerospace Metals is proud to offer hardcoat anodizing as well as other complex anodizing and plating processes at our state-of-the-art facilities. With a competitive turnaround time of one week, A.M. serves the metal finishing industry nationwide.
If you have questions or want further info about our processes, call us
today at (800) 398-0790 or email us at info@aerospacemetalsllc.com. We would be happy to walk you through the process and assist you in your hardcoat anodizing needs.
