PVD coating of metallic sheets and strips

PVD coating of metallic sheets and strips opens new potentials for the production of attractive and innovative products with enhanced surface properties. The paper presents the main development steps from the beginning up to the newest results concerning plasma activated high-rate electron beam deposition. Possible new applications are exemplified in connection with actual results of our investigations. We have analysed the technical and technological state-of-the-art in the field of PVD coating of metallic sheets and strips world-wide and derived the actual trends of development. By use of this knowledge the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology (FEP), Dresden, has installed a new research and pilot equipment for the in-line deposition of plates and metallic strips - the so-called Maxi. The paper describes this new equipment and outlines its capabilities