MULTI ROLLS

High-thickness wear-resistant coatings deposited using Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) techniques on rolls for rolling metal tubes or wires. The rolling rolls are normally made of hard materials such as hardened steel or tungsten carbide, but they are still subject to wear and must be replaced frequently, causing additional costs for their replacement.

The use of PVD techniques to create wear-resistant coatings is well known, but the thickness of such coatings is usually limited to around 10 µm, due to the inherent stresses and defects that develop during the growth of the coating.

The aim of this project is to realise thick wear-resistant deposits, in the order of 50 µm, in innovative materials such as CrAlSiN super-lattices or CrN/TiN multi-layers, using a combination of magnetron sputtering and cathodic arc deposition.

This project is carried out in collaboration with the company Eurolls SpA at whose premises an INFN-designed PVD deposition system is installed and operational.