Why surface treatments ?
As a key link in the production chain, surface treatment allows to considerably increase the properties of a product as well for aesthetic or technical aspects. This may include, for example, an improvement in hardness characteristics, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, or even a change of product color/texture.
As such, surface treatment operations generally constitute a finishing operation. The companies in this field of activity are at the end of the chain and are for the most part specialized subcontractors. However, for practical reasons, there are also a large number of workshops directly integrated into the production chain.
An extensive covered area
The area covered by surface treatments is large. Surface treatment can be defined as any operation that modifies the characteristics of a product, by structural modification or by adding a toplayer. This concept covers the following types of processing:
- Coating (material addition apart from paints). This category is divided into two parts, namely wet processes (electroless and electroplating coatings) and dry processes (thermal spraying, vacuum deposition, repairing, plating)..
- Painting (classified in wet processes)
- Conversion-coating treatment (made trough wet process)
- Structural transformation treatment (melting, surface hardening, mechanical treatments)
- Thermochemical treatment (metal and metalloid diffusion)
Thanks to its equipment, CITRA is preferentially focus on wet processes (electroless and electroplating) and dry processes (thermal spraying and vacuum deposition) and conversion-coating treatments. Nevertheless, it can also meet customer needs for thermochemical treatments with the support of IRCER laboratory.