AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS
Innovative and highly functional
surface designs
AHC’s Weiterstadt plant is home to Europe’s largest
Electroless Nickel facility for serial and small parts.
Even the most complex component geometries receive
a uniform coating thickness. The quality of the coating
exceeds international standards by far.
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Quality in a class of its own –
economical and reproducible
AHC stands for the development, production and refinement of
functional and high performance surface designs with metallic
materials. For decades, we have been the high-performance partner
to the automotive industry and have accumulated experience from
thousands of joint projects in this sector.
One billion components
Every day, several million parts are coated in our plants. Every year,
one billion functional components are processed by AHC. We are
the international automotive industry’s strategic partner for new
developments and reliable ‘Just-In-Time’ production of high quality
and innovative surface designs.
Our Certifications:
• ISO/TS 16949:2009
• ISO 14001:2004
• ISO 9001:2008
• ISO 50001:2011
Some of our references from the
automotive sector:
• AUDI, BMW, BORGWARNER, BOSCH,
CONTINENTAL, DAIMLER, FESTO, FORD,
KOLBENSCHMIDT, MAYBACH,
MERCEDES-BENZ, OPEL, PEUGEOT,
RENAULT, TRW AUTOMOTIVE, VISTEON, We support you with important issues such as
VW, PORSCHE, ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
• Downsizing & lightweight design
• Efficiency gains
• Hybrid technologies
• Quality, functionality & appearance
• and much more
AHC-Group, in association with global player Aalberts Industries, offers
critical expertise, technology, innovation, capacity for secure backup
solutions, efficiency, sustainability, economy and, most importantly,
quality of coatings.
Source: Robert Bosch GmbH
We cover more than 60 % of the European
fuel pump market with our coatings.
Control valves coated with DURNI-COAT®-AL. In the automotive sector, for example, workpieces treated with DNC-AL
are used for passenger car diesel pistons. The coating protects the vehicle components against cavitation erosion.
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„I take care of safety - 10 million times a year.”
Pistons are brought to the automated assembly system
from the client’s packaging in the racking and returned
again after hard coating.
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More options in Downsizing
and Lightweight Design
Improved material properties are in demand
Smaller, lighter, reduced friction. The requirements
for downsizing engine components are demanding and continuously calling for higher quality
parts. AHC’s coating systems bring their
full strength into play here and give their
components all of the required material
properties.
Therefore, engineers have even more
opportunities for reduced displacement,
for example, by using turbochargers
or compressors. DURNI-COAT® coated
compressor wheels, produced by AHC in
Europe’s largest Electroless Nickel facility for
serial and small parts, display a significantly higher
thermo-mechanical load bearing capability. This has
the greatest effect with the supply of exhaust gases on
the compressor side of a turbocharger, where the finest particles act
excessively upon the compressor wheel at immense rotational speeds.
New environmentally friendly selective coating systems
In selective galvanic finishing (SELGA-COAT®), defined surface areas are
processed by the electrolyte only coming into use in enclosed mechanisms on the specific intended locations. This partial coating is used on
wheel hubs and bearings, valves (e.g. injection pumps), motor pistons,
valve pistons, braking system components, clutch components, pump
housings and sandwich plates, amongst others
Functional light metals for many applications
Turbocharger compressor wheel
In the field of lightweight construction, for example in the use of
magnesium alloys and aluminium, we support our market partners
with technically finished components that enable increasingly improved
results in weight reduction – be that in the overall powertrain or in the
chasis and body work.
Selective hard anodisation of the 1st ring
groove of motor pistons
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Efficient, economical and environmentally friendly
At the AHC plant in Venlo (The Netherlands), shock
absorber tubes for the motorcycle industry are selectively
coated with a stipulated 20-25 µm hard chrome functional
coating thickness in the cutting edge, and up to now
globally unique, SELGA-COAT® CHROME plant. The hard
chromium layers are deposited via the SELGA-COAT®
CHROME process at high speed. A coating thickness of
25 microns can be produced in 3 to 4 minutes.
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Increased efficiency
through functional components
Excellent processes for the automotive industry
The cost and quality pressures in the automotive sector are high for
all market partners. Functional processes and systems that interact
perfectly are increasingly important.
As part of the large parent company Aalberts Industries, AHC-Group
has opportunities to invest in new product and systems technologies.
These days this is an absolutely essential factor in fulfilling the quality,
quantity and economic requirements as a reliable partner, and having
an excellent technological position.
We focus on quality in every respect and ensure constant, reproducible finishing quality and precision at the highest level. Automated,
environmental and resource-saving procedures and certified systems
for quality assurance and environmental management ensure the
greatest possible reliability and sustainability.
Selective galvanic coating of a servo pump
housing (SELGA-COAT®)
The results are first class coated components for gears, valve casings,
dual-clutch transmissions, fuel pumps, exhaust gas recirculation systems and much more.
Shift valves and hydraulic plate
HART-COAT®-coated shift valves
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In technical discussion: Uwe Franz (left) demonstrates the optimisation potential
of compressor wheel load.
Process reliability plays a decisive role in high volume production,
especially if there is an increased variation in the base material.
Subjects such as hybrid drive systems, noise reduction, exhaust
gas recirculation, etc. require coating systems in a class of their
own. Targeted solutions develop from close consultations with
our clients.
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Hybrid technologies
achieve innovations
Excellent processes for the automotive industry
Active sales:
We invest for you – from the initial idea through to series production – and accompany you as our clients with passion, innovation
capacity and expertise. We are also your market partners with
further developing technologies in the automotive sector.
AHC-Group has had a separate
Key Account Management department
established for the automotive industry
since 2011.
We are proud that our experienced
Surface properties are becoming increasingly important
We support you with practical advice and assistance. Effective
dialogue is particularly important in order to ensure optimum
processing of the surfaces of your components. As the quality
of the raw material can often not be improved, the processing
of the surface becomes even more important.
professionals have a good reputation
in the central laboratories of the OEMs.
Your contact persons
• Uwe Franz
• Marcus Saul
Expert advice: Marcus Saul (left) explains details of coasting (fuel savings and CO2 reduction)
for the power train of a hybrid motor.
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GLISS-COAT® FLOCK can be applied to phosphated,
anodised and blasted metal surfaces as well as on plastics.
Despite complicated component geometry, the flock is
functionally processed through new systems engineering
and in large scale production.
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Decisively
more comfort
Tailor-made coating systems
There is hardly a vehicle worldwide which does not contain a
component which has been coated by AHC-Group. The possibilities
are endless. Our GLISS-COAT® process-variations are functional
anti-friction and special coating systems which are put to good use
in any place where a reduction of friction and wear, as well as noise
reduction and prevention of squeaking and creaking, are required.
Many possibilities
Depending on the process, all technically interesting metals, light
metals and plastics can be coated. For special applications, other
materials, such as fleece or ceramics, have been successfully coated.
Latches for vehicle locks
(GLISS-COAT®)
Applications in the automotive sector include vehicle locks, seat
locking devices, plain bearings, bushes, gears, bolts, screws, nuts,
spindles, shafts, valves, rolling bearings, compression springs for
suspension systems, components for the vehicle interior, for example
hinge pins, bearing bolts, locking bars, guide plates, etc.
Drink holder bracket in
passenger car interior (GLISS-COAT®)
One of many interesting innovations from
AHC-Group:
A fully automated GLISS-COAT® FLOCK facility
for series production of all types of springs,
profiles, sliding mechanisms, guides, guide
rails, retaining pins, bearings, boxes and
housings.
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More than 60 million shift valves are functionally processed in the AHC Eschenbach
plant alone each year for the automotive industry. Plant Manager Wolfram Macke (left)
and Sales Manager Matthias Wischmann rely on qualified employees, resource-saving
technologies and economical production processes.
AHC Oberflächentechnik GmbH
Boelckestraße 25-57
50171 Kerpen
Germany
Phone +49 (0) 2237 502 - 0
Fax +49 (0) 2237 502 - 100
info@ahc-surface.com
www.ahc-surface.com
AHC treats one billion industrial
parts at 19 European locations with
about 900 employees per year.
We would be happy to advise you.
Image sources: © Sergey Nivens/Rear view of luxury car/fotolia.com,
© goce/Hybridmotor cropped/canstockphoto.de, © yuyang/ Hybridmotor/canstockphoto.de
Quality, market oriented prices and fast delivery times