Dimitri Peters, electroplating technician at Aalberts Berlin; Interview: Robert Piterek
Mr. Peters, your employer Aalberts Berlin regularly coats 3D-printed components. What is the current demand like?
I think we still have a long way to go before we can coat entire series of 3D-printed parts. So far, we have prototypes and small series here, currently additively manufactured parts for rocket engines, for example, which are anodized by us.
What processes do you use in your electroplating shop for 3D printing?
We use both electroless nickel and anodizing or our special Kepla Coat process for additively manufactured materials. The Kepla Coat process is a plasma-chemical process that offers various options for oxidizing components. With Kepla Coat white, we have a process that tends to produce thicker layers and is suitable for corrosion and wear protection. And then we have Kepla Coat black, a process that is primarily used for light-absorbing surfaces. This coating is in high demand from chip machine manufacturers. We can use it to coat aluminum and titanium materials, for example. Titanium-printed materials are also suitable here. We can deposit hard coatings in the range of around 25 µm. These are often individual applications for the aerospace sector.
What problems arise when coating 3D-printed parts?
A lot of mechanical pre- and post-processing is required for a 3D component. First and foremost, the highly oxidized surface makes coating difficult. In addition, the surfaces have a fairly high resistance, which makes it difficult to apply a layer at all. The mechanical pre-processes are necessary for this. If the pre-treatment of the components is not right, they may not be able to be anodized.
Which sectors do your customers come from?
Our customers are manufacturers of our own additively manufactured materials, customers from the aerospace and optical industries and automotive manufacturers.
How does the process work in your electroplating shop?
To date, we have always received the parts ready for electroplating for sampling. We have quite large baths in our electroplating shop and often only small sample components for 3D printing. It is rarely possible to coat a complete batch of additively manufactured components. This extends the delivery time of such a component because, for economic and technical reasons, we have to look at which components we can coat together; after all, the anode-cathode ratio in the bath has to be right. The small quantities are a problem because the customer also wants his sample back quite quickly. After all, the individual components we receive are often of very high quality.
"The galvanic coating of 3D printing has great potential"
Looking to the future. What do you expect for additive manufacturing in terms of electroplating?
This area definitely still offers a lot of potential, especially in terms of complex geometries for weight savings. I think galvanic coatings will always remain important in order to optimize the properties of 3D printing, for example open-pored surfaces that become more corrosion-resistant with nickel or other galvanic processes. A good example is aluminum, which is printed quite a lot. It is a material that is susceptible to corrosion and can be protected from corrosion with Durni Coat, our electroless nickel process, for example. We recently had exactly this case with an additively manufactured component.
Photo: Private
INFO
Dimitri Peters completed his training as a surface coater in 2007 and subsequently trained as an electroplating technician and master craftsman. He has worked in sales as well as in the research and development of electrolytes. Peters has been working for Aalberts in Berlin since 2018.
