AHC, Arzuffi Hard Coating process

We are kicking off a new informative section of the blog: Arzuffi loves Innovations.

All the technologies, processes and technological innovations developed over more than 35 years by the Arzuffi company explained in a simple and easy way. Let’s start with the AHC!

AHC, an acronym for Arzuffi Hard Coating, is the process developed by Arzuffi as a final treatment following the metal deposition phase by thermal evaporation or magnetron sputtering. The AHC process is able to increase the surface tension of the substrate and enhance the hydrophilic effect. It is mainly used for:

  • better paintability of the part as water-based paints and resins bind much more easily and/or better bonding of the part
  • reducing the amount of waste parts due to mishandling as it increases the hardness of the substrate
  • pass particularly aggressive humidity chamber tests

For some industries, where there are no stringent specification tests to pass, AHC may be the last step in the process, thus avoiding the protective coating (topcoat) usually used to protect the thin film from weathering and possible oxidation.

The AHC process can be installed on existing Arzuffi machines via a software and hardware upgrade.