PRODUCT REVIEWS
Material coating wins award
Motion technology company , Schaeffler , has won the prestigious ‘ MATERIALICA Design + Technology Award 2023 ’ ( in the ‘ Material ’ category ) for its coating solution , Enertect . The Enertect system is designed for “ costoptimised and more sustainable production of metallic bipolar plates for hydrogen applications .” The award was presented at eMove360 ° Europe 2023 , the international trade fair for electric and autonomous mobility , in Munich .
Commenting on its decision , the expert judging panel highlighted the “ up to 99 percent lower carbon footprint ” of the Schaeffler coatings . Eight companies and organisations were nominated as finalists in the ‘ Material ’, ‘ Product ’, ‘ Surface & Technology ’, ‘ CO₂ Efficiency ’ and ‘ Student ’ categories . This is the fifth MATERIALICA Design + Technology Award that Schaeffler has garnered since 2014 . Prof . Dr . -Ing . Tim Hosenfeldt , Senior Vice President Corporate Research and Innovation & Central Technology , Schaeffler , commented :
Schaeffler accepts the award .
“ We are absolutely delighted to have won the MATERIALICA Award once again . Innovative coating solutions like Enertect play a key role in the sustainable mobility of the future , for example in the strategic future growth segment of hydrogen . This award shows that , through our intensive R & D activities in surface technology , we are playing an important role towards making hydrogen technology sustainable and viable for the future .”
The Enertect coating system is used in metallic bipolar plates with proton exchange membrane ( PEM ) for fuel cells and electrolyzers . The coating maintains a high electrical conductivity over the entire service life of the fuel cells and protects the base material from corrosion . This means that , in combination with the coating , less expensive and easily processed steel can be used instead of titanium .
“ The coating , which was developed in-house , is particularly thin and is free of precious metals . Thanks to its special nanostructured design , it is as robust and effective as a solution containing precious metals , but much more sustainable and less expensive . This allows the carbon footprint of the coating to be reduced by more than 90 per cent , while the carbon footprint of the entire metallic bipolar plate can be cut by 20 per cent ,” Schaeffler told ISMR .
Schaeffler has started producing bipolar plates with the Enertect PC + coating in Haguenau ( France ) as part of the “ Innoplate ” joint venture that it established with Symbio . Schaeffler is also continuing to develop the product for additional applications . n
www . schaeffler . com
“ Seamless ” traceability
Ensuring complete traceability from raw material to finished product is of paramount importance . coilDNA , as a 100 % subsidiary of AMAG Austria Metall AG , is a digitalisation start-up based in Linz , Austria . The business is based on patented technology for marking and tracking continuously produced semifinished products . These include coils and sheets , extruded or roll-formed profiles as well as hoses or cables made of different materials such as steel , aluminium or plastic .
When it comes to marking the aluminium strips , sheets and plates produced in Ranshofen , AMAG uses LEIBINGER printers to meet the diverse requirements of its customers from different industry sectors . This is also the case with the coilDNA code , a continuously changing alphanumeric code which is applied over the entire length of rolled products ( often ranging from 100 to 1000 metres ) in the final phase of production .
When marking aluminium coils at AMAG Austria Metall AG , the flexible positioning of the print heads relative to the rolling strip on the different lines posed a challenge . Up to eight lanes had to be printed with different markings from above and from below , particularly on the longitudinal slitting lines .
“ The coilDNA code consists of 14 clear alphanumeric characters that are strung together in the code track and which are never repeated . Each individual code element
Above : LEIBINGER JET3up printers mark the coilDNA code to rolled products at process speeds of up to 500m / min . Image : Paul Leibinger GmbH & Co . KG .
allows its exact position on the product to be determined . If data is assigned to these code elements , it can be retrieved in subsequent processing steps , regardless of how the semi-finished product was split . This enables seamless tracking of the material , its properties and manufacturing conditions over several stages of the value chain and , ideally , all the way through to the end product ,” explained LEIBINGER .
The need to print the constantly changing coilDNA code was solved by developing special interface software based on LEIBINGER ’ s messaging protocol . Using the printers ’ high data processing speed , the coilDNA code can now be printed with reproducible results at process speeds of up to 500m / min .
“ The flexible positioning and easy manipulation of the print heads on the line enable the printing of the rolled strips at almost any width position , even in several lanes if required . This means that the slit strips produced on the longitudinal slitting lines can be marked individually . Excellent legibility of the dot-matrix font used is ensured even in this high-speed range ,” continued LEIBINGER .
With coilDNA technology , AMAG can now offer its customers new services .
“ By using close to 30 LEIBINGER printers on a variety of systems in our rolling mills , the wide-ranging marking requirements of our customers from different industries are met to the fullest and with an exceptional degree of flexibility ,” said Dr . Werner Aumayr , head of AMAG IT .
The coilDNA-marked strips allow seamless traceability of the delivered strips and sheets , as well as the parts created from them through further processing ( including their properties and manufacturing parameters ). Specially developed coilDNA apps enable AMAG customers to communicate and coordinate quickly , easily and by product once the coilDNA code has been scanned . This was enabled by LEIBINGER ’ s coding and marking technology .
LEIBINGER is a specialist in coding and marking systems with headquarters in Tuttlingen , Baden-Württemberg ( Germany ). The third-generation , family-run company was founded in 1948 . n
www
. leibinger-group . com
64 | ismr . net | ISMR March 2024