Sensor-Aktor-Schicht

Sensor-actor coating – Enabler for temperature control on tool surfaces Temperature control in aluminum die casting is crucial for sustainable processes and high product quality. Knowledge of the temperature in the loaded contact zone is required during production process. Therefore, a sensor coating consisting of a base insulation coating, two sensor layers and an insulating wear protection coating is applied by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD). Temperature measurement bases on the thermoelectric effect. In addition to isolated temperature measurement, the PVD sensor coating can be combined with a thermally sprayed (TS) actor coating. The TS actor coating consists of insulation coatings and a heater coating, generating heat based on the function of a resistive heater. To investigate the sensor-actor function, the combined coating was exposed to thermal cycling tests in this study. The combination of PVD sensor coating and TS actor coating was successfully applied. The TS actor coating tempered the surface with high dynamics. At the same time, the PVD sensor coating measured the temperature at the surface with short response time. In thermal cycling tests, the sensor function showed a comparable temperature profile to reference measurements with an infrared sensor. By means of the sensor-actor coating, temperature can be measured at contact surface and heat can be applied if necessary. The sensor-actor coating offers the opportunity to control temperature in primary and forming processes, for machine elements or for processing temperature-sensitive materials.