Give Your Mold a “Diamond Armor” – A Quick Guide to China’s PVD Coating Scene
1. What is PVD and why is every tool-room talking about it?
Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) grows a 1–11 µm nano-scale armor on mold surfaces by bombarding them with metal vapor and plasma inside a vacuum chamber.
Because the process stays below 500 °C—lower than the tempering temperature of most tool steels—there is virtually zero dimensional change or softening
.
2. Four mainstream PVD processes in China
| Process | Typical Coating | Hardness | Heat Resistance | Friction Coefficient | Mold Applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathodic Arc Ion Plating | TiN | HV 2300 | 600 °C | 0.4 | Injection molding, blanking |
| Magnetron Sputtering | TiAlN/AlTiN | HV 2800–3200 | 800–1000 °C | 0.3–0.4 | Die casting, hot forging |
| Hybrid Thick Film | ViOLA-S (AlCrN + nitriding) | 24 GPa ≈ HV 2400 | 800 °C | 0.5 | ADC12 aluminum die casting, wash-out resistant |
| Low-temperature DLC | ta-C | HV 4000 | 400 °C | 0.1–0.2 | High-gloss plastics, lubricant-free release |
3. Real-life life-span boosts
- 30 % glass-filled PP
S136 core insert showed flash after 80 k shots; with TiAlN it ran > 220 k shots before the first polish, OEE ↑ 38 %. - ADC12 die-casting
A 9 µm AlCrN + plasma-nitrided hybrid reduced wash-out rate from 0.45 g/100 h to 0.1 g, giving a 3× life jump. - Cu-alloy (BeCu) optical lens mold
Special TiN-BeCu recipe kept thermal conductivity intact while scratch resistance ×5, cosmetic reject rate < 0.3 %.
4. China’s PVD supply chain map (2025)
- Equipment
Guangdong (Huicheng, Kehui), Jiangsu (Xishan, Shenyao) and Guizhou (Hangrui) mass-produce unbalanced magnetron + pulse-bias coaters that can hold a 2 t automotive panel mold per batch. - Service
The Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta now host “24-hour express coating” plants: deliver before lunch, get the tool back next morning. Price sheet: TiN 0.8-1.2 RMB/cm²; thick-film AlCrN 1.5-2.0 RMB/cm². - Compliance
Zero waste water, zero heavy metals; RoHS, REACH and FDA cleared in one pass—no extra paperwork for EU/US exports.
5. How to pick the right coating for your mold?
- Temperature window
Hot-work > 700 °C → AlTiN, ViOLA-S; cold-work < 400 °C → DLC, TiCN. - Mold material
Cu-alloy mirror finish → TiN-BeCu; high-strength steel punches → TiCN + mirror polish. - Failure mode
Soldering + wash-out → thick hybrid + nitriding; sticking → low-surface-energy DLC. - Lead-time
Standard 1-2 days; deep-cavity or oversized tools need early fixturing discussion.
6. Three trends to watch (2026-2028)
- AI closed loop: real-time optical emission spectroscopy adjusts arc current every 5 s, holding thickness tolerance ±0.1 µm.
- Green factory: 100 % renewable electricity + carbon tracing, < 0.02 g CO₂/cm².
- Price erosion: domestic target material scale-up predicted to cut cost 15-20 % by 2026, turning PVD into a “standard process” rather than a premium option.
7. One-sentence takeaway
When cycle times shrink, melt temperatures rise and glass-fiber ratios get “crazy”, PVD coating is China’s cheapest power-up—spend 1 % of mold cost, gain 300 % life and slash defect rates in one shot.
Need a quick trial?
Send your steel grade, hardness, cavity depth and failure photos to a local coating center; samples in 24 h, coated mold back in 48 h. Let the data prove what “diamond armor” can do!
If you wish to learn more about this subject, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are a Chinese leading company in the manufacture of tooling, stamping, injection molding, CNC machined parts, added very diversified surface treatment solution.
