Development of innovative and effective coating of magnesium components

The general objective of this project is to promote strengthening the growth of the Latvian economy and achieving the objectives of the smart specialisation strategy, investing in research, innovation, and their promotion activities.

The goal of the project - develop a long-term corrosion-resistant, highly adhesive, easily repeatable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly coating for magnesium alloy components.

Such a technology opens the opportunity for Latvian companies to approach the coating of magnesium components in a fundamentally more efficient way in Europe, as well as to effectively compete with the world's technological development and production in the market.

The project was implemented in a period of 30 months, from October 2020 to March 2023, and achieved the following result: “Developed coating of magnesium components in PVD method, which ensure resistance to high-frequency vibration fatigue, adhesiveness, corrosion resistance, easy repeatability, economic feasibility, and resistance to microcracks under conditions of high and long-term stress.”

Results of completed activities contributes to the priority development strategies of Latvia (RIS3). By the time of the final report, 12 scientific publications have been submitted. Project implementer has participated in 7 international scientific conferences.

The project resulted in the creation of value-added breakthroughs in scientific, technological, and/or process related aspects in the field of corrosion resistant coatings for Mg alloys. The scientific breakthroughs were published in peer-reviewed journals and technological aspects were submitted as prototype report and patent application. PEO coatings with nanoparticles produced excellent corrosion protection and can be easily scaled up for mass production. The processing conditions tested in the study were conducive for industrial applications and compliant with the goals set out in the project proposal.

Implementation of the project involves the use of the latest methodology of carrying out all the preliminary studies on the creation of corrosion-resistant coatings on magnesium alloys and their further research and testing, the conceptual methodology for creating a technology for obtaining a PVD coating was optimized, which confirmed its relevance and correctness of the chosen research direction, and a prototype technology was created. Corrosion performance was tested by methods such as immersion gravimetric testing and subsequent analysis by visual inspection and microscopy. In the final paper, a robust analysis of the corrosion performance was performed using PDP (potentiodynamic polarization) and EIS (Electrodynamic Impedance Spectroscopy) methods.

Important relationships between process parameters and coating characteristics were obtained for both PEO and PVD coatings. The results obtained in the project will allow for the development of industrial capability of producing corrosion resistant coatings on Mg alloys in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. The project has created valuable scientific and industrial knowledge that will help Latvia grow substantially in the field of light part manufacturing and surface modification.

Total project implementation costs: 506 656,43 EUR

Total amount of ERDF support: 354 659,52 EUR

CFLA 1.1.1.1/19/A/148

Being implemented with the financial support of the ERDF.