PVD coatings and innovative finishes for fittings and bathroom fixtures
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The sanitary fittings industry is an important driver for “Made in Italy”. Thanks to the characteristics of tradition, quality, innovation, and customer service, the plumbing industry has acquired important market shares in those sectors where Italy is highly specialized on an international level, especially in terms of fashion expressed in furnishings.
The production of designer faucets, built from traditional raw materials such as brass and bronze, is enhanced by innovative finishes that are obtained using PVD treatments. These treatments provide an original appearance, with new, brilliant or opaque colours that range from 24 carat gold to gun-barrel black.
Production chain for plumbing fixtures
The production chain for plumbing fixtures and valves starts with the production of parts made using a variety of techniques. This makes for a wide range of materials, sizes, series and systems. Raw materials, which can be brass or bronze bars, undergo to a variety of machining processes that are used to imprint the shape of the components and, based on the production unit, can include:
- Casting,
- Hot pressing,
- Injection moulding,
- Die casting,
- Sintering,
- Drawing.
The future fixture that leaves the metal processing machine consists of semi-finished parts that are subject to boring and cleaning operations before they are assembled. The final stages are those for appearance and function. The surface treatment of the metals modifies their hardness, water tightness, wear and abrasion resistance. It provides a surface colour of great effect, like chrome, gold, silver or nickel. It can be shiny, satin or matte. Colours can be innovative, suitable for a wide variety of requests to satisfy modern market fashions.
What types of surface finishes are suitable for fittings and bathroom decor?
In the past, sanitary components, like faucets and bathroom accessories, were chrome or nickel plated in galvanic dips. Electrochemical deposition applied a thin metal or metal alloy layer. This galvanic deposit gave the surface metal shine and made the surface in contact with water resistant to oxidation.
Over the last few years, galvanic treatment has been replaced by Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) for fittings and bathroom plumbing fixtures. The reasons for this choice vary and include the lower or null environmental impact, both inside the plant and during the entire production process. PVD treatment does not require the disposal of chemical products; does not emit pollutants to the atmosphere or discharge them to the environment. It is ecological and requires simpler environmental reporting, to which the companies in this industry are usually subject.
The PVD finish is hypoallergenic, resistant to sweat, and makes the faucet longer lasting, scratch-resistant, abrasion resistant, and more hygienic, thanks to its aseptic capacity. PVD thin film coatings offer a range of surfaces and colours that are much wider than what is available from the traditional systems. Colours do not change over time, and the coating material remains like new for a longer period.
Some surface treatments can make the surface of a faucet incredibly opaque and resistant to fingerprints during daily use. This facilitates maintenance and improves the perceived value of the entire plumbing system.
The choice of colours for the finishing appearance of PVD treated fittings
To obtain a colour in the light grey to dark black range, PVD treatments use Carbonitrides or Titanium, Chrome and Zirconium Nitrides, which can even improve the wear resistance and resistance to oxidation. These coatings can have thicknesses of one micron and are firmly fixed to the semi-finished parts that make up the faucet or mixer tap. The deposition method is based on an ionization process that is performed under vacuum and high processing temperatures.
Titanium Nitride is also suitable as the most external finish for nickel or chrome plated items, and this is not limited to domestic plumbing. It is also true for bathroom accessories like towel bars, toilet paper holders, hooks, knobs, custom shelves, soap dishes, toothbrush stands, and all the various components that make up a bathroom, like the aerator, drain pipes, shower-bath handles, shower heads, and thermostatic mixer faucets.
Chrome Nitride, as CrN, has important characteristics such as corrosion, chemical, and oxidation resistance. It also has an extraordinarily low friction coefficient which makes it the ideal treatment for a number of plumbing applications like screw faucets, plug valves, single handle mixer faucets, thermostatic mixer faucets, needle valves, gate valves and ball valves.
Externalizing the surface treatment of plumbing components
Plumbing fixture manufactures can take advantage of companies like CM Group for PVD coating. The CM Group has over two decades experience and specific expertise in physical vapour deposition as well as traditional galvanic treatments.
The choice of outsourcing the treatment is ideal for expanding your range of colors and finishes, to obtain highly topical product lines in step with design trends, saving the investment of a department dedicated only to the surface treatment of sanitary components. and finished taps and accessories for the kitchen and bathroom.
Ask for an estimate for your needs