The Contribute
As part of one of the study cases treated, the company from Vicenza has contributed by selecting industrial coatings – a thin multilayer PVD deposit and a thin silica based sol-gel deposit – to be applied on the steel surface of the cylindrical body of a traffic bollard in order to increase its surface hardness and thus ensure greater resistance to wear and corrosion. This has allowed, consequently, to improve considerably also the aesthetic characteristics by virtue of the best preservation over time of the material. The coatings analyzed were subject to characterization activities and functional tests.
Subsequently, coated samples were produced and analyzed not only in AISI316 stainless steel, currently used for the bollard, but also in the two materials, AISI304 stainless steel and Fe360 steel, both with lower and cheaper performance compared to AISI316 steel: the selected coatings allow to increase the surface performance, thus allowing the use of steels with lower surface performance than AISI316 stainless steel.
Congress POLY – CHAR 2020 12 -14 april 2021
As part of this case study, Ecor International Spa has also carried out comparative tests on coatings provided by partners of the Project, such as deposits of new formulation or technology transfer to other sectors: in particular, inorganic or hybrid coatings (inorganic organic systems) deposited via sol-gel, PVD and atmospheric plasma.
The results provided by Ecor International Spa to the partners have merged into a study aimed at replacing AISI316 stainless steel – specific for components used in outdoor – with AISI304 stainless steel – usually used for indoor – cheaper and more easy to model. The focus of the research was to evaluate and optimize the coatings in order to improve their resistance and applicability in the design of objects intended for outdoor use.
This research has also become the subject of the intervention of Dr Dafne Cimino (DAIS-DSMN University Ca’ Foscari Venice) as part of the congress POLY – CHAR 2020 12 -14 April 2021 (www.poly-char2020.org) “Development of new hybrid and inorganic coatings as sustainable solutions for design and conservation needs”( D. Cimino*1, F. Enrichi2,3, E. Balliana1, E. Zendri1, E. Trave2, E. Cattaruzza2, A. Bellucci4, I. Blo4, D. Stocchi4, E. Verga Falzacappa5, A. Sozza6).
Of particular interest is the transfer of coating technology to various fields of application, among which the preservation of metal stands out to improve the durability of cultural heritage. The applications are related to the consolidation and protection of archaeological finds and contemporary surfaces with particular attention to those exposed to the external environment, more stressed to deterioration due to agents.
1 Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics Department & 2 Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems Department, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre-Venezia (VE), Italy
3 CNR-ISP Institute for Polar Sciences, c/o scientific campus Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre-Venezia (VE), Italy
4 Ecor International S.p.A., via Friuli 11, 36015 Schio (VI), Italy
5 srl, via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre-Venezia (VE), Italy
6 Rete di Imprese Luce in Veneto, Via dei Marcello 13/11, 35017, Piombino Dese (PD), Italy
@EcorIntern