On average, about 2000 fasteners are installed in a common passenger car. They are often invisible but always essential. Screws and nuts hold car or other machinery components together, they have to resist extreme environmental impacts and guarantee a smooth and safe driving experience.
Of course, it's not only vehicles where fasteners are essential. In fact, the industry is also strongly tied to the production of aircrafts, appliances, agricultural machinery, commercial construction, and infrastructure. More than 200 billion fasteners are used per year in the U.S., 26 billion of these by the automotive industry.
With the rise of the e-mobility sector, fasteners gained further importance in the construction of battery packs.
SurTec, as a supplier for tailor-made chemical specialities, is unique in the field of surface treatment for fasteners offering solutions along the entire process chain:
SurTec's electroplating processes include every step from the pre-treatment, solutions for zinc and zinc alloys to top coats and sealers.
With the acquisition of the brand precote® in December 2022, SurTec further broadened it's competencies in the fastener industry. With the precote® product range now being part of the SurTec portfolio, the company serves a wide variety of applications worldwide in the field of thread locking and sealing, for example in the automotive industry, e-mobility, mechanical engineering, the aerospace industry, household appliances and other industries.
By choosing SurTec as their chemical supplier customers benefit from a broad range of profound expertise, excellent service, global contacts and high-quality products - everything from a single source.
Cold formed parts are needed for all types of power supply. SurTec 199 P is the solution for reliable dephosphating processes. Due to the absence of hard complexing agents it simplifies waste water treatment and significantly increases bath life time compared to standard caustic dephosphating.
Creating added value for the entire process through the additional benefit of cleaning - that is our goal. Residue-free surfaces after cleaning and the rapid evaporation of the temporary corrosion protection can contribute significantly to a longer service life of the heat furnace and at the same time minimise the reject rate.
See SurTec 042 for more details.
SurTec 680 Chromiting is a universal process for zinc and zinc alloys. It meets highest requirements regarding heat resistance and corrosion protection whilst allowing for a waste water free application.
There is also a Chromiting version available which is low in cobalt: SurTec 680 LC
As a replacement of cadmium coatings for fastening elements in the aerospace industry, Aalberts Surface Treatment GmbH has developed a combination of an ultra-thin PVD aluminium coating with the chromium(VI)-free passivation SurTec 650. This way the properties of the substrates steel and titanium, which are the core of the fasteners, are crossed with those of aluminium. Hence, the treated components do not show any risk of hydrogen embrittlement or contact corrosion even though they are made of steel or titanium. At the same time they are corrosion resistant and electrically conductive due to the passivation with SurTec 650.
In addition to passivations SurTec offers high-performance sealers and topcoats that boost corrosion resistance and consolidate the desired appearance. Our special lubricant technologies can adjust the friction coefficient and support customers to achieve optimal parameters.
precote® products offer optimal solutions for locking and sealing as well as controlled assembly and disassembly. These specially developed products designed for the pre-coating of threads are based on the unique microencapsulation technology enabling us to offer many advantages over conventional thread lockings. The microencapsulated, reactive components are incorporated in the precote® coating and remain inactive until use. Only when assembled the system gets activated, cures and provides reliable locking and sealing of the thread. One advantage is that the system is solvent-free in use.
