Hydraulic connections Practical test for VOSS corrosion protection
A continuous operation of soil tillage implements and sowers is the prerequisite for time-efficient and profitable economic activity in agriculture. Important condition: The machines must be resistant to corrosion from fertilizer, rain, and frost. This particularly applies to connection parts of the machine hydraulics that are critical for function. If the component is not optimally compatible with the system requirements or is incorrectly assembled, leaks can quickly occur.
Agriculture is characterized by price erosion: Companies must achieve a high work productivity – additionally, the environmental standards of the European Union require a resource-efficient cultivation of rural areas. Horsch Maschinen GmbH is one of the leading manufacturers of qualifying machines and progressive components for soil tillage, seeding, and plant protection.
New Quality Standards in Hydraulics
Within the last few years, Horsch recorded an increasing demand for fertilization machines – the requirements here for the corrosion protection of the integrated parts are especially high. „Corrosion resistance against liquid fertilizer and fertilizer dust is extremely important for our customers. They expect operationally safe, but also optically flawless machines – even after years of operation,“ emphasizes Thomas Prüll from Research and Development at Horsch. In order to also guarantee customers a future-proof and consistently high standard in fluid technology, Horsch declared VOSS Fluid GmbH as the standard supplier for hydraulic connection technology. „VOSS Fluid convinced us with the zinc-nickel coating, which is leading on the market with its high corrosion protection,“ Thomas Prüll explained.
Effective Surface Technology
Definitive arguments for Horsch: VOSS coat outperforms even the highest corrosion protection class K5 of the German Association of Machinery and Plant Construction (VDMA) standard sheet 24576, in that a red rust resistance on the surface of at least 720 hours is required. Additionally, in contrast to pure zinc surfaces, only a light, inconspicuous grey coating forms, rather than a pronounced white rust. Unassembled parts coated with VOSS coat achieve a corrosion protection of more than 2,000 hours in the salt spray test. But even in the practical test, the surface proved its resistance under real conditions. For this, randomly selected articles from ongoing production passed through the typical work processes, from transport and storage to assembly with standard tools. Despite mechanical stress, the connection parts showed no corrosion of the base metal, even after 1,000 hours.
In order to ensure sustainable suitability even with regard to requirements in agricultural engineering, Horsch examined VOSS coat more closely. „For us the results from the salt spray test are only of limited significance,“ said Prüll. „The actual effects of assembly, fertilizer, temperature, and humidity on corrosion resistance first appear on the fields.“ Even the conditions in operation put an effective corrosion protection to the test: If exposed parts come into contact with mineral or nitrate fertilizers, this can lead to increased corrosion. Therefore, in a weathering test since November 2013, the developers from Horsch have been testing how couplings from various manufacturers and different surfaces behave over an extended period of time. In order to realistically re-create the practical conditions, Horsch mounted the couplings, secured them onto a rack, and exposed them to natural weathering.
Over a period of two months, the developers sprayed the components every workday with an established liquid fertilizer solution known for its corrosive effect. The comparison was made between components with A3C coating and zinc-nickel surface as well as stainless steel connection pieces. After just a short amount of time, red rust appeared over the entire surface of the zinc-coated yellow-passivated surfaces and the standard zinc-nickel coating. In contrast, only marginal traces of corrosion were detected on the connection technology from VOSS Fluid, even six months after the beginning of the test. In direct comparison with other zinc-nickel surfaces, VOSS coat therefore comes out on top – an indication that high corrosion resistance is not only attributable to the coating. The result: Even under real conditions, the VOSS tube connections remain functional and are also an economic alternative to stainless steel.
High Production and Application Expertise
The reason behind the high corrosion protection of the couplings lies in the sustainable surface technology developed specifically by VOSS Fluid and longstanding experience in the production and application of tube connections. The coat construction of VOSS coat is at first glance comparable to customary zinc-nickel coatings. It consists of a zinc-nickel base coat, which is passivated and sealed. A central distinctive feature is the design of the coating processes, which is continually optimized by the manufacturers from Wipperfürth: A prerequisite is the electroplating, in which only tube couplings are coated. This is how the connection expert specialized in the efficient and careful reproducibility of each of its approximately 16,000 articles – more than one hundred million parts are subjected to electroplating annually. Thanks to the process parameters specially defined for each product, VOSS achieves first-class results with regard to even coat distribution, optics, and friction coefficients. Training courses for the leak-free assembly of the connection technology additionally guarantee Horsch a process-safe installation into the hydraulic system. Complaints relating to couplings are a thing of the past after making the switch to VOSS Fluid.
About VOSS Fluid GmbH
VOSS Fluid GmbH is an internationally leading supplier of hydraulic connection technology. The company has its registered office at Wipperfürth and, with its approx. 400 employees, it is a part of VOSS Holding. The product portfolio comprises pipe connections for stationary and mobile hydraulics, including cutting ring screw unions, tube and pipe forming systems and flanged connections. VOSS Fluid as a development and system partner of international mechanical engineering focuses on application-specific system solutions. VOSS Fluid offers customers all from a single source: from project planning and engineering via production and assembly to economic logistics services. With its four own sales companies in Europe and Asia as well as further VOSS Group representations and a worldwide network of dealers, VOSS Fluid ensures at all times the reliable distribution of its system solutions.
Firmenkontakt
VOSS Fluid GmbH
Catrin Neukirchen
Lüdenscheider Straße 52-54
51688 Wipperfürth
+49 2267 63-0
fluid@voss.net
http://www.voss-fluid.de
Pressekontakt
additiv pr GmbH & Co. KG
Susanne Unmack
Herzog-Adolf-Straße 3
56410 Montabaur
+49 2602 95099-12
su@additiv-pr.de
http://www.additiv-pr.de