
Feinal Plus – the next generation of wear protection.
FEINAL PLUS EXTENDS THE LIFESPAN OF FINEBLANKING TOOLS AND REDUCES COSTS
Despite the high degree of technical maturity of fineblanking technology, detailed improvements such as the FeinAl Plus wear protection coating from Feintool, PLATIT and Blösch, which increases efficiency and service life, can mean another major progress.
Even a fineblanking tool does not last forever
As is well known, our fineblanking is the efficiency-enhanced precision version of punching: With fineblanking, greater geometric precision is achieved, and cut surfaces with up to 100 percent smooth cuts can be realized. However, as the service life (duration of use) of the tool increases, the precision and the quality of the cut surface decrease due to wear and tear on the tool. This is caused by different wear mechanisms such as adhesion (sticking of punching material) and abrasion (shaving). The fineblanking punches then have to be extensively maintained and eventually even completely replaced. This causes costs in two ways: production stops and maintenance as well as replacement tools are expensive.
FeinAl Plus: Another step forward
After several years of continuous further development work on the proven FeinAl coating, the next generation of coating technology for fineblanking applications is now available: With the new FeinAl Plus, the positive effect of wear protection coatings has been raised to an even higher level.
Christian Maurer, Head of Technology Development at Feintool, describes the main advantage of FeinAl Plus: “This further development has a positive impact on the service life and efficiency of the tools.” In detail, this means: “By increasing the system efficiency in production, the use of FeinAl Plus not only has an economic benefit, but also an ecological one: necessary tool revisions and complete replacements can be delayed longer, and the parts produced are of even higher quality.”
FeinAl had already reduced tool wear
Feintool had long recognized the problem of tool wear on a microscopic level and, together with its partner PLATIT AG, the producer of high-tech PVD and PECVD coating systems from Selzach SO, developed the FeinAl wear protection layer. This multi-layer, microscopically thin aluminum chromium nitride-based coating increases the surface hardness of the fineblanking tool, which counteracts abrasive wear, and reduces friction with the punching material, which reduces the risk of cracking. In addition, the FeinAl layer reduces the tendency for punching material to adhere to the tool surface (adhesive wear), which has a positive effect on behavior with regard to signs of fatigue and breakouts on the cutting edges.
Since then, we have had our fineblanking tools coated with FeinAl as standard at Blösch AG, the specialist for tool coatings from Grenchen SO.
What distinguishes the new FeinAl Plus?
- Dedicated AlCr multilayer creating a tough and flexible coating structure.
- Selective doping with boron, simultaneously reducing internal stress and increasing hardness.
- Improved crack resistance and thus less chip welding inside the cracks.
- Specialized edge rounding processes and post-polishing steps tailored to the substrate material, tool geometry, and coating design.
Some tech talk for those who want to know in depth
In the FeinAl Plus process, several microscopically thin layers of an aluminum-chromium alloy are vapor-deposited onto the surface of the fineblanking punch using a PVD coating (Physical Vapor Deposition). A selective doping (enrichment) with boron atoms makes the applied layer even more flexible and harder.
For comparison: the coating applied is only 2 to 3 μm (microns, a millionth of a meter = 1 thousandth of a millimeter) thin, which corresponds to one fiftieth of the diameter of a human hair (approx. 100 μm = 1 tenth of a millimeter).
Related Links
- Promo-Video «FeinAl-Plus-Beschichtung von Feintool, PLATIT und Blösch» (German / Deutsch)
- Promo video «FeinAl Plus coating from Feintool, PLATIT and Blösch» (English / Englisch)
- Promo video «FeinAl Plus coating from Feintool, PLATIT and Blösch» (English, with Chinese subtitles / Englisch, mit chinesischen Untertiteln)
- PLATIT AG, Selzach SO
- Blösch AG, Grenchen SO