Hard chrome without hexavalent chromium.
TripleHard® is Savroc's patented Cr(III) hard chrome, designed to replace hexavalent chromium cost-effectively. Savroc licenses the process and works with you through the change, from the simulation of your parts to production in your own plant, on a new line or your converted existing line, with Savroc's online monitoring software.
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. It matches Cr(VI) hard chrome in its properties and exceeds it in corrosion and heat resistance: no rust at 34 months in mine service, where Cr(VI) hard chrome on the same steel rusted at 2 months, and hardness maintained after heat cycling to 500 °C, while conventional hard chrome begins to lose hardness at elevated temperature. 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
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.
- 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)
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.
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Hydraulic cylinder rods
- So far
- In industrial use since 2024, under a Savroc licence, on a converted open-tank line at a licensed coater, with coated rods supplied to Hydroline. No rust at 34 months in mine service.
- Now
- The continuous TripleHard® line in Kuopio, the industrial-scale reference line, is running and open for visits, and Version 1 is complete. Its job is to prove high-capacity 24/7 production, which has not yet been run.
- Next
- The first continuous customer line, in mass production from 2027.
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Engine valves
- So far
- Tested on valve stems: hardness maintained after heat cycling to 500 °C, and no measurable attack in hot acid after heat treatment.
- Now
- Offered for licensed production on a converted existing line: coated in open tanks or in a coating cell of its own, not on the continuous line. Volume production is possible on such a line; it has not started yet.
- Next
- Planned for 2027: the engine valve coating cell moves from Kuopio into a partner's own plant, for production there.
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Shock absorber rods
- So far
- Tested: a quarter of the sliding wear of hard chrome on the same shaft, no galling at the full block-on-ring load, and lower seal leakage than the Cr(VI) reference in a 250,000-cycle OEM test.
- Now
- The third application, on a converted existing line or in a coating cell designed by Savroc, not on the continuous line. Volume production is possible on such a line; it has not started yet. Testing continues.
- Next
- The goal: proven in commercial use by 2029, and scaling up from 2030.
From 2028: Cr(VI) hard chrome across applications, as fast as lines can be built and converted.
The roadmap
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.
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
Why online monitoring is the key to 24/7 production
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, and Savroc works with them through the change.
- 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. TripleHard® is in industrial production today: hydraulic cylinder rods are coated on a converted open-tank line, in smaller volumes. An open-tank line can already run TripleHard® in volume and around the clock; it has not been run around the clock because the volumes have not yet called for it. High-capacity continuous production has not yet been run. Proving it, and building the way to coat hydraulic cylinder rods around the clock, is the job of the continuous TripleHard® line in Kuopio, which is running and open for visits, ahead of the first continuous customer line, in mass production from 2027.
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.
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.
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
Working 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
- Results verified on your parts against the agreed targets
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6
Production and support
- Process support
- Optimisation, new applications
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 position
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 sales@savroc.com