Manufacturers use a variety of metal plating finishes for custom products. Most of these metal plating finishes improve the aesthetics of products, while others improve functionality and some offer both.
Metal plating remains a practical choice for post-production finishing and an important aspect of modern technology, making it an excellent choice for many applications. This article explores the surface finish of metal plating and how it works, detailing the essential elements of the technique and how to get the most out of it.
Metal plating is the process of applying an outer layer of chrome, copper, nickel or other metal to a component to improve its appearance and resistance to corrosion. Plating offers many benefits to parts made from metal and other materials.
It helps to improve the surface roughness of machined parts. This finishing technique provides aesthetic appeal, reduced friction, improved hardness, improved paint adhesion and solderability.
Step 1: Pretreatment
Clean and prepare the metal surface to remove any contaminants that could affect the plating quality.
Step 2: Determine the Effectiveness of the Cleaning Process
Inspect the metal to ensure it is thoroughly cleaned and free of residues, ensuring optimal plating adhesion.
Step 3: Set up the Plating Station
Prepare the plating bath, ensure proper electrical connections, and set the necessary parameters for the plating process.
Step 4: Plating Process
Immerse the metal in the plating solution and apply the electrical current to deposit the desired metal coating onto the substrate.
Step 5: Post-Treatment Process
Rinse and dry the plated metal, and apply any additional treatments like polishing or passivation to enhance durability and appearance.
Step 6: Waste Disposal
Properly dispose of any waste materials and chemicals used in the plating process in compliance with environmental regulations.
Electroplating is a metal plating technique in which a metal or metal alloy is deposited on the surface of a workpiece. It is a typical metal plating process in which electric currents are passed through an electrolyte solution to dissolve charged metal particles (ions).
The charged (positive) metal ions attach themselves to the workpiece, which in this case is negatively charged. The dissolved metal particles rise to the surface of the material when the workpiece is placed in the chemical solution.
Electroplating improves the chemical, mechanical and physical properties of a workpiece. It provides a smooth, fast and uniform coating on the plated metal. This thin layer forms a protective and aesthetic appearance on the metal workpiece.
Electroless plating is the ideal alternative to electroplating and is a much simpler and more cost effective option. We also call it autocatalytic or chemical plating because it doesn’t require an external electric current.
Electroless plating deposits metals such as copper, gold, nickel and silver onto the surface of various materials using a reducing chemical bath. It produces a catalytic reduction to the path because it is a chemical process that does not require machinery or electricity.
Electroless plating is suitable for hard surface components with excellent corrosion resistance. As a result, the oil and marine industries use this process to manufacture their components. Manufacturers often use electroless plating technology to produce common components, such as pumps or valves, that are frequently exposed to corrosion.
In the immersion metal plating process, a metal is immersed in a chemical compound containing ions of a noble metal. The noble metal ion is usually stable.
This creates a natural pull to displace the metal ions from the starting metal, leaving it with a thin layer of noble metal ions. This process is slightly slower than the electroless and electroplating processes. It is also only suitable for precious metals such as platinum, silver and gold.
Carburising is a metal plating process that hardens the surface of a metal while leaving the metal underneath soft. This technique is the same as carburising, surface or case hardening and results in the formation of a thinner and stronger layer of metal called the surface case.
This type of metal plating physically sublimates the surface of a material source (liquid or solid) into gaseous atoms, molecules, or ions under vacuum conditions to prepare a thin film. Carburising is an ideal metal plating technique that product designers use to prevent corrosion in industries that use metals.
This type of metal plating physically sublimates the surface of a material source (liquid or solid) into gaseous atoms, molecules, or ions under vacuum conditions to prepare a thin film. A low pressure plasma or gas is then used to deposit a film with a specific function on the surface of the substrate.
The main physical vapour deposition technologies are sputtering, ion plating, vacuum evaporation, arc plasma plating, etc. PVD coating has rapid deposition, strong adhesion, excellent diffraction and a wide range of applications.
Metallization is a highly flexible and effective thermal spray technique that involves spraying heat-softened or molten materials onto a surface to achieve the desired coating. It uses a powerful spray coating technology that can spray a variety of materials including ceramics, metals and cermets.
Plasma spray applications include the protection of jet engines, the restoration of worn parts and more. The plasma spraying process offers excellent resistance to wear, abrasion, electricity, heat and oxidation.
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