A hard coating still needs an appropriate relationship to its substrate.
Separate the coating properties
Oerlikon's coated-component guide treats hardness and coating adhesion as different assessment quantities. A hardness claim alone does not establish the coating-to-substrate relationship. Primary reference: Oerlikon coated components.
Identify the proposed coating, substrate, relevant surface condition and application. Preserve the method behind any adhesion result rather than comparing unexplained grades. A surface that appears intact on a photograph does not supply the same evidence as a defined coating assessment.
A hypothetical offer comparison
Imagine a fictional wear-part quotation emphasizing coating hardness but omitting substrate and adhesion evidence. A second quotation identifies the coating system and relevant assessment basis. The first offer's larger hardness number does not close its missing interface question, and the second still needs application review rather than automatic acceptance.
Make columns for hardness method, adhesion method, coating thickness basis, substrate condition and duty relevance. Do not invent an acceptable adhesion class or rank actual suppliers from the teaching comparison. It reports no HM coated part, scratch-test result or verified service-life improvement.
Preserve the whole surface system
Ask which evidence supports the actual coating/substrate combination under its intended contact and environment. A different substrate or preparation route should remain visible even if the coating name stays the same.
Keep the accepted surface specification and assessment reference with the component drawing. Later replacement offers should identify the same relevant system or document the reviewed differences. This guide helps a buyer avoid reducing a coating proposal to one hardness value; it supplies no coating process recipe, universal bonding threshold or promise that a hard layer guarantees the actual interface's performance over time.
Customer Questions
Does high coating hardness prove adhesion?
No. They are separate evidence questions.
Can the substrate be omitted from the proposal?
No. The coating/substrate system needs identification.
Does a photograph establish an adhesion class?
No. Retain the actual method and assessment basis.
Primary References
These references support the technical principles discussed in this guide. The worked examples and review questions are educational.
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