EN 6118:2025

Aerospace series - Pure aluminium IVD coating for fasteners

This document specifies the characteristics and the tests required to qualify and control lots of high purity (≥99 %) aluminium coatings applied by ion-vapor deposition (IVD) on fasteners.

Luft- und Raumfahrt - Reinaluminiumbeschichtungen mittels IVD für Verbindungselemente

Luft- und Raumfahrt - Reinaluminiumbeschichtungen mittels IVD für Verbindungselemente

Série aérospatiale - Revêtement IVD d’aluminium pur pour éléments de fixation

Le présent document spécifie les caractéristiques et les essais requis pour qualifier et contrôler les lots de revêtements aluminium de grande pureté (≥ 99 %) appliqués par dépôt ionique en phase vapeur (IVD, ion-vapor deposition) sur les éléments de fixation.

Aeronavtika - Premaz IVD iz čistega aluminija za pritrdilne elemente

Ta dokument določa lastnosti in preskuse, potrebne za kvalifikacijo in nadzor serij premazov iz aluminija z visoko čistostjo (≥ 99 %), nanesenih z ionskim naparevanjem (IVD) na pritrdilne elemente.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 15-Jul-2025
• ICS: 49.040 - Coatings and related processes used in aerospace industry
• Technical Committee: ASD-STAN - Aerospace
• Drafting Committee: ASD-STAN/D 3/WG 6 - Coatings for fasteners
• Current Stage: 6060 - Definitive text made available (DAV) - Publishing
• Start Date: 16-Jul-2025
• Completion Date: 16-Jul-2025
• Ref Project: SIST EN 6118:2025 - Aerospace series - Pure aluminium IVD coating for fasteners

Overview

EN 6118:2025 - "Aerospace series - Pure aluminium IVD coating for fasteners" is a CEN standard that specifies the characteristics, processing steps and the tests required to qualify and control lots of high‑purity (≥99 %) aluminium coatings deposited by ion‑vapor deposition (IVD) on aerospace fasteners. The standard defines process, supplier and lot acceptance criteria, required inspections and reporting obligations for coating qualification and lot release.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Coating material and purity: High‑purity aluminium (≥99 %).
• Process steps:
  • Pre‑processing: degreasing and surface preparation (abrasive blasting or agreed alternatives).
  • Plasma treatment: vacuum/reduced pressure plasma in protective gas prior to deposition.
  • IVD deposition: wire feed to a heated evaporation source with an applied voltage to generate an ion current during coating.
  • Post‑processing: glass‑bead burnishing for compactness and smoothness; optional conversion coatings (Type 0, I or II).
• Conversion coating options:
  • Type 0: none.
  • Type I: hexavalent chromium conversion (MIL‑DTL‑5541 / EN 2437).
  • Type II: chromium‑free conversion (MIL‑DTL‑5541 type II / EN 4729). Type II preferred for new designs.
• Process controls:
  • Multiple deposition runs permitted provided exposure to atmosphere ≤ 8 h and no post‑processing between runs.
  • Reporting: qualification and lot release test reports to be supplied to customer/mandated body.
• Performance tests (Annex A & B):
  • Visual appearance, coating thickness, adhesion.
  • Chemical resistance: fuels and phosphate‑ester hydraulic fluids (immersion 1 000 h at 70 ± 5 °C).
  • Resistance to stripper agents (24 h at 23 ± 2 °C).
  • Paint adhesion (installed in 7075‑T6 coupon, with water immersion test 336 h).
  • Heat resistance (4 h at 400 ± 15 °C) and salt‑spray/self‑corrosion testing.
  • Typical thickness acceptance for qualification: 4 µm to 13 µm (measured per NASM 1312‑12 or equivalent).
  • Adhesion: scribe‑and‑grid per EN ISO 2819 or alternative scratch test; process qualification includes wet ageing (750 h at 40 ± 5 °C, 98 % RH).

Applications and who uses this standard

• Intended users:
  • Aerospace fastener manufacturers and coating suppliers performing IVD aluminium coatings.
  • OEMs and tier‑1 suppliers specifying fastener finishes for airframe and engine components.
  • Quality/inspection laboratories performing qualification and lot acceptance testing.
  • Procurement and regulatory bodies requiring consistent coating performance and traceability.
• Practical use:
  • Establishing supplier qualification programs, process qualification for new IVD methods or sites, lot release procedures, and acceptance criteria for coated fasteners in aerospace assemblies.

Related standards

Normative references include: EN 2437, EN 4729, EN ISO 2819, EN ISO 9227, MIL‑DTL‑5541, MIL‑DTL‑83488, NASM 1312‑12 - useful for conversion coatings, adhesion and corrosion test methods, and thickness measurement.

Keywords: EN 6118:2025, IVD coating, pure aluminium, fasteners, aerospace coating specification, ion‑vapor deposition, coating qualification, adhesion test, salt spray, conversion coating.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-september-2025
Aeronavtika - Premaz IVD iz čistega aluminija za pritrdilne elemente
Aerospace series - Pure aluminium IVD coating for fasteners
Luft- und Raumfahrt - Verfahrensspezifikation - Aluminiumschutz für
Verbindungselemente
Série aérospatiale - Revêtements IVD d’aluminium purs pour fixations
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 6118:2025
ICS:
49.025.20 Aluminij Aluminium
49.040 Prevleke in z njimi povezani Coatings and related
postopki, ki se uporabljajo v processes used in aerospace
letalski in vesoljski industriji industry
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN 6118
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
July 2025
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 49.040
English Version
Aerospace series - Pure aluminium IVD coating for
fasteners
Série aérospatiale - Revêtement IVD d'aluminium pur Luft- und Raumfahrt - Reinaluminiumbeschichtungen
pour éléments de fixation mittels IVD für Verbindungselemente
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 7 April 2025.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2025 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 6118:2025 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
1 Scope . 4
2 Normative references . 4
3 Terms and definitions . 4
4 Technical requirements . 5
5 Process description . 5
5.1 General. 5
5.2 Pre-processing . 6
5.2.1 Surface preparation . 6
5.2.2 Plasma treatment . 6
5.3 Coating deposition . 6
5.4 Post-processing . 6
5.4.1 Glass-bead burnishing . 6
5.4.2 Conversion coating . 6
Annex A (normative) List of tests required . 7
Annex B (normative) Tests on specimens and on fasteners. 8
Bibliography . 12

European foreword
This document (EN 6118:2025) has been prepared by ASD-STAN.
After enquiries and votes carried out in accordance with the rules of this Association, this document has
received the approval of the National Associations and the Official Services of the member countries of
ASD-STAN, prior to its presentation to CEN.
This document shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text
or by endorsement, at the latest by January 2026, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn
at the latest by January 2026.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
following countries are bound to implement this document: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North
Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the
United Kingdom.
1 Scope
This document specifies the characteristics and the tests required to qualify and control lots of high purity
(≥99 %) aluminium coatings applied by ion-vapor deposition (IVD) on fasteners.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 2437, Aerospace series — Chromate conversion coatings (yellow) for aluminium and aluminium alloys
EN 4729, Aerospace series — Trivalent chromium based chemical conversion coatings for aluminium and
aluminium alloys
EN ISO 2819, Metallic coatings on metallic substrates — Electrodeposited and chemically deposited
coatings — Review of methods available for testing adhesion (ISO 2819)
EN ISO 9227, Corrosion tests in artificial atmospheres — Salt spray tests (ISO 9227)
ASTM B117, Standard Practice for Operating Salt Spray (Fog) Apparatus
MIL-DTL-5541, Chemical Conversion Coatings on Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys
MIL-DTL-83488, Coating, Aluminum, High Purity
NASM 1312-12, Fastener Test Methods, Method 12, Thickness of Metallic Coatings
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp/
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
lot
set of fasteners of identical target specifications, produced in continuous or consecutive processes with
identical processing parameters
3.2
batch
set of fasteners, travellers and/or similar parts that are coated with identical parameters at the same time
or consecutively with the same coating equipment

Published by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International), available at:
https://www.astm.org/.
Published by Department of Defense (DoD), available at: https://assist.dla.mil/online/start/.
Published by Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), available at: https://www.aia-aerospace.org/.
3.3
new process
any IVD process that differs significantly from previously qualified processes
Note 1 to entry: This includes new machine setup, new pre- or post-processing methods, new target composition
of involved materials and/or chemicals, inclusion of additional processing steps and/or removal of processing steps.
3.4
new supplier
any production site that newly introduces own production capabilities to produce IVD coatings
Note 1 to entry: Renaming or relocation of a qualified production site is not a new supplier.
3.5
process qualification
set of investigations to be conducted to verify equivalent performance of coating with respect to this
specification produced by a newly developed or adapted coating method that fulfils the definition of a
new process
Note 1 to entry: For the definition of a new process, see 3.3.
3.6
supplier qualification
set of investigations to be conducted to verify equivalent performance of coating with respect to this
specification produced by a new supplier
Note 1 to entry: For the definition of a new supplier, see 3.4.
3.7
traveller
accompanying part of a lot or batch prepared to be a representative specimen to assess properties of the
coating
EXAMPLE To assess coating thickness.
4 Technical requirements
Un
...