New types of steel sheet coatings produced by high-rate electron beam vapour deposition

Objective. The introduction of new steel materials, increasing demands placed on the anti-corrosion protection and processing properties of the products, and environmental acceptability of the processes are making it necessary to evaluate new types of surface treatments and coatings for steel strip. Within the scope of a joint project funded by the BMBF in which steel companies Krupp Hoesch Stahl, Preussag Stahl, Stahlwerke Bremen and Thyssen Stahl as well as Fraunhofer-Institut fur Elektronenstrahl- und Plasmatechnik, Dresden participated, research was to be conducted into the potential of high-rate electron beam vapour deposition for steel strip coating applications. Summary. Taking the example of various model systems produced by high-rate electron beam vapour deposition for very dissimilar purposes and fields of use (e.g. new eco-friendly functional coatings, additional coatings of galvanized sheet, and highly corrosion-resistant coatings), it is shown that it is possible, in principle, to produce new types of coatings with improved properties. Development potentials for new coated steel sheet materials are indicated. Still unresolved questions relating to the evolved coating process technologies are currently preventing any use for industrial strip coating applications. While the achieved coating rates already meet the requirements in terms of industrial process speeds, it is necessary to still adapt additional plasma processes to the speed and surface of the steel strips in order to improve the coating result.