07-Dec-2009
Summary
New Cavidur®HT coating! - Happy Birthday Sorevi - Market News - Cost savings with DLC coatings
Content
Dear reader,
This month we have some exciting news to share with you. Our R&D department has provided us with the latest technological innovation – the Cavidur®HT coating. This high-temperature resistant coating is the latest addition to our DLC range and means Bekaert is strenghtened as a one-stop coating supplier for your entire component range.
Talking of innovation, we’ve been broadening our horizons and we now develop DLC coatings for a wide range of motorsports. Traditionally, we’ve concentrated on solutions for the larger competitions like Formula One. But we decided that teams operating in smaller competitions – and working within tighter budgets – deserved the same top-drawer quality coatings. Check out how France-based engine builder RDM ramped up the performance of its Rally series engines when they used cost-effective Bekaert DLC coatings.
Find out in our expert Q&A how Bekaert DLC coatings can help you cut costs and ‘go green’. Plus we couldn’t let this newsletter pass without saying happy birthday to Bekaert-owned Sorevi, which turned 20 in August 2009.
And as ever, we’d love to hear about your industry news and views, and any ways that we could improve our service and products.
See you soon!
Michael De Maegt, General Manager Bekaert DLC
"For every new engine development in the Super 1600, Super 2000, Group A or project series, we always turned to Bekaert technology because we knew it would immediately improve the performance of our engines. Bekaert DLC coatings always deliver the highest level of performance, reliability and quality"
Daniel Fasano - General Manager at RDM, France
Events
Bekaert presented its new innovative Cavidur®HT coating at PMW 2009
Here at Bekaert, we dedicate our resources developing new technologies that will boost engine performance. And we’ve delivered again with our latest innovation – the Cavidur®HT coating.
This innovative new coating is a breakthrough in our DLC range, and has been developed following requests from customers for DLC coatings that can be applied to components operating at higher temperatures, such as exhaust valves.
Tests on engines used in NASCAR races have shown that the Cavidur®HT coating can be successfully applied to exhaust valves, giving engine builders an excellent alternative to CrN coatings, which until now have typically been applied to such components to protect them against friction and wear.
This exciting new technology means you can rely on one dependable DLC coating supplier for your entire component range, saving you time and cutting your transport and logistics costs.
The feedback you have given us during the show at our Bekaert booth has been great, glad we could provide you with the coating you needed! Thank you for visiting us at this year's edition, see you at next year's show!
Happy Birthday Sorevi!
We’d like to wish many happy returns to Bekaert-owned Sorevi, which turned 20 in August 2009. The company’s founder, Claude Lory, has been instrumental in the invention and development of DLC coatings, and is still renowned in the industry today.
To celebrate the occasion and to promote knowledge sharing, a gathering was organized on 28 August at Limoges University, near Bekaert’s Limoges facilities. Local authorities, representatives from the university, local press, Bekaert management and Bekaert employees were all in attendance.
There were a number of speakers at the event, including Bekaert’s General Manager, Michael De Maegt; Claude Lory, founder of Sorevi and regular consultant to start-up companies; and Jacques Christen, director of AVRUL, who discussed the importance of university research and knowledge sharing between education institutions and industry.
It proved a very enjoyable and informative day, and we’d like to wish Sorevi and its employees continued success – here’s to another 20 trailblazing years!
Customers
RDM boosts rally performance with F1-quality technology from Bekaert
Traditionally, high-tech Bekaert DLC solutions have been the preserve of top-end racing competitions like Formula One. But not anymore. We’re excited to announce that we’re developing technologies for other motorsports, so that tuners and smaller teams can boost their engine performance just like the major players.
One motor racing team doing just that is France-based rally outfit, RDM, which teamed up with Bekaert for the 2008 rally circuit. The company used Bekaert’s coatings to boost the reliability and performance of its Super 1600, Super 2000 and Group A project series engines.
The great news for smaller motorsport teams is that while our new solutions are well within reach of teams with more limited budgets, we haven’t compromised on quality. Far from it. These new solutions are every bit as advanced as those we design for cars competing in the larger championships.
Daniel Fasano, General Manager at RDM, says of the company’s partnership with Bekaert: “We turned to Bekaert technology because we knew it would immediately improve the performance of our engines. Its DLC coatings always deliver the highest level of performance, reliability and quality, and give us a competitive and cost-saving edge."
Technology update
Ask the experts – All you want to know on cost savings with DLC coatings
Over the years we received quite a number of questions with regards to DLC coatings, their specifications and benefits. With recent trends focusing on the green and weight-saving approach, we have selected some key questions and answers so you can read for yourself why DLC coatings are good for your engine and your wallet:
How can Bekaert DLC coatings help companies slash costs AND go green?
DLC coatings can help manufacturers comply with the industry’s demand for greener existing engines, and at the same time deliver a valuable contribution to the design of new engines. Plus by investing in DLC coatings, manufacturers can cut costs on other engine parts.
What are the current cost-saving measures taken in the racing industry?
Applying Bekaert DLC coatings to components not only increases the lifetime of the components, but also extends the lifetime of the entire engine. So not only do you save on components, you also save on time spent checking the different components after every race.
Which measures could be eliminated by investing in DLC coatings?
You can increase wear resistance and, therefore, the lifetime of various parts. In doing so, you enjoy considerable savings, as the parts can be run for additional races without taking the risk of a breakdown during the race.
How can investing in DLC coatings benefit companies that are trying to trim costs?
The hard and low friction layer will improve the wear resistance of the component, resulting in a considerably longer life for your engine and its parts, and a stable performance for the lifetime of the coated component.
Many motor manufacturers are leaning towards adopting the same cost-saving technologies used in motorsport trials. What cost savings (running costs) could this bring to the car driver in their everyday life?
DLC coatings help reduce friction losses and, therefore, fuel consumption. Coating the tappets in small cars reduces friction losses by no less than 40%, which translates into a fuel reduction of around 1 to 2%.
Want to know more?
Click on the download below
to read the Q&A in full or contact Mark Boghe through the contact button
to let us know what you would like to know about DLC but never asked before.
PRI 2009, December 10 till 12, 2009: PRI 2009
Downloads