Hard chrome without hexavalent chromium.
TripleHard® is Savroc's patented nickel and Cr(III) hard chrome. Savroc owns and licenses the process; manufacturers run it in their own plants, on a new line or their converted existing line, with Savroc's online monitoring software built for around-the-clock production.
Why manufacturers choose TripleHard®
- Replace Cr(VI) on your own terms. Hexavalent chromium is carcinogenic and moving toward an EU REACH restriction. TripleHard® replaces it with trivalent chromium before regulation sets the timetable for you.
- Hard-chrome performance, tested. Hard-chrome-level hardness without heat treatment, rating 10 at 1000 h in neutral salt spray with the right nickel underlayer, no rust at 34 months in mine service, and lower seal leakage than Cr(VI) in a 250,000-cycle OEM test.
- Production stays in your plant. Your parts, your line, new or converted, under a Savroc licence.
- Quality held by data. Savroc's online monitoring software is included in every line licence.
- See it running. The continuous TripleHard® line in Kuopio is running and open for visits.
Powered by Savroc's TripleHard® technology.
Your line, built new with qualified equipment partners or converted from your existing line.
- Savroc
- Simulation of your parts, process design, online monitoring software, commissioning and the TripleHard® licence.
- Equipment partner
- Builds a new line to Savroc's process design. An existing line is converted to Savroc's conversion plan, under Savroc's guidance.
- You
- Your plant, your targets, and the decision at the end of each phase
- 1000 h
- neutral salt spray, rating 10, depends on the nickel underlayer
- ≥17×
- service life in a mining case, against Cr(VI)
- In industrial use
- hydraulic cylinder rods
- 250k
- cycles in an OEM seal test: less leakage than Cr(VI)
The continuous TripleHard® line in Kuopio is running, and Version 1 is complete. Continuous 24/7 production is the next step, and then we take TripleHard® into mass production on the first continuous customer line, starting in 2027.
Why online monitoring is the key to 24/7 production
We own the technology and the reference line. The production lines are owned and run by manufacturers. They run TripleHard® in their own plants under a Savroc licence, on lines built new by qualified equipment partners or converted from existing lines.
- Why online monitoring. Cr(III) is harder to keep on specification than Cr(VI). That is why every licensed TripleHard® line comes with Savroc's online monitoring software: it is built to hold the process on specification by data, not by an operator's judgement of the bath. A continuous line earns its keep only when it runs around the clock, and because the lines are owned and run by manufacturers, TripleHard® capacity can scale as fast as lines are built and converted.
- Where we are. The coating is proven in industrial use. The continuous TripleHard® line in Kuopio is running and open for visits. Continuous 24/7 production is the next step, ahead of the first continuous customer line, in mass production from 2027. A shock absorber rod coating cell, designed by Savroc, is in final customer approval.
Roadmap: what TripleHard® replaces, and when
TripleHard® starts where it replaces nickel plus hexavalent chromium, which is where the technology is proven and where customers are ready now; from there we scale the same technology to more applications and plants. As more lines are built, TripleHard® becomes more accessible and more cost-effective for more applications.
The roadmap- Now: TripleHard® replaces nickel + Cr(VI) coatings on hydraulic cylinder rods and engine valves, both at once; a shock absorber rod coating cell, designed by Savroc, is in final customer approval.
- From 2028: Cr(VI) hard chrome across applications, as fast as lines can be built and converted.
Online monitoring software, included in every line licence and in partial use on the reference line in Kuopio.
- Real-time process tracking.
- Deviation alarms.
- A record for every part.
The same quality on every licensed line, continuously developed.
TripleHard®
Hard chrome, reinvented.
TripleHard® combines a nickel anchor layer with an advanced trivalent chromium layer: a replacement for Cr(VI) hard chrome, developed by Savroc in Kuopio, Finland, since 2013 and licensed to the plants that run it. Familiar electroplating principles, safer chemistry, and the performance heavy industry actually runs on.
- High hardness. Hard-chrome level, without post-plating heat treatment
- Excellent adhesion. Intact after bend and scratch testing
- Cost competitive. Full hardness as plated, no heat treatment, smaller extraction to run
- Familiar process. Electroplating, on infrastructure your people already know
The continuous line
Engineered for performance. Built for scale.
Hydraulic cylinder rods are coated in a single automated pass. The bar enters at one end and moves through every stage without manual transfer between baths.
- 1Surface preparation
- 2Etching
- 3Nickel deposition
- 4TripleHard® Cr(III) layers
- Continuous process
- Automated production
- Precise control
- Built to scale
Safe by design
Better by choice. Better for all.
The enclosed design keeps chemicals, mist and emissions inside the machine. Automated handling keeps operators away from the chemicals and the moving parts.
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Operator safe.
Minimal contact with chemicals and moving parts
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Fully enclosed.
Splash, mist and emissions contained
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Less chemical use.
Less waste
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Monitored online.
Real-time tracking, deviation alarms and a record for every part, built for around-the-clock production.
What it changes economically
Smarter process. Stronger results.
Most of the cost of hard chrome is not the chrome. It is everything the chemistry forces you to build around it.
- Fewer maintenance breakshigher production output
- Excellent corrosion resistancecheaper base material
- Less exhaust air to treatcheaper ventilation
- Full hardness as platedno heat-treatment step
- Less wastelower disposal fees
- Lower frictionless energy lost in service
- No chromium trioxideno Cr(VI) authorisation
Why now
The industry is moving. The replacement is ready.
Hard chrome itself is not the problem; the chemistry that makes it is. Hexavalent chromium is carcinogenic, and under REACH it is moving from authorisation toward restriction. OEMs are removing it from their specifications. Qualifying a replacement coating takes years, not months, which makes the useful moment to start the one before the deadline.
Read the regulatory positionWorking with Savroc
From your drawings to production, with you.
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1
Targets and starting point
- Your parts and specifications
- Volumes and your current process
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2
Simulation for your parts
- The coating modelled on your parts
- From your drawings
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3
Design and targets
- Line concept or conversion plan
- Targets agreed in writing
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4
Build or convert
- A new line from a qualified equipment partner
- Or your existing line, converted to Savroc's conversion plan
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5
Commissioning in your plant
- Process started up on site
- Operators trained
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6
Production and support
- Process support
- Optimisation, new applications
Contact
Ready to start your move off hexavalent chromium?
Send us your drawings and the targets your parts must meet, or come to Kuopio and see the line running. Every project starts with Savroc.
See it for yourself
The line runs in Kuopio. Come and watch it coat a rod.
Bring your drawings and the targets your parts must meet. Savroc's engineers show you the line, the test data and what a project in your plant would look like. No commitment. The line is open for visits.
Savroc info@savroc.com