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Metal Finishing Services

Activation Agitation and Adhesion

 

silchrome plating activationsilchrome plating agitationsilchrome plating adhesion

How do Silchrome ensure a consistent and high quality finish for your components? Here we explain some terms you may/may not be familiar with and explain why they are crucial parts of our process.

Activation

One of the most important steps in any plating or coating process is in the preparation of the component. The presence of grease, oil, corrosive products or dirt will all affect the quality of the plating and in most cases a smooth surface finish is required for the best results. As part of our pre-plating process we will often ‘activate’ the metal.

Activation can be defined as the “elimination of a passive condition on a surface.” Most often this will involve the removal of a naturally occurring Oxide layer that may form on the surface of the metal.

This is done through the submersion of the component in an acidic solution which is often referred to as ‘Pickling’. Generally speaking the harder the metal, the longer this immersion time will be and the stronger the concentration of the acidic solution will be.

Agitation

During the plating process, a component is placed into a vat/tank which contains an electrolytic solution and a current is run into the bath which promotes the build-up of material of the part. A crucial part of this process is the agitation of the solution in the bath.

Agitation performs two important tasks during our process. It assures the homogeneity of the solution, meaning that we can ensure that the temperature and concentration within the vat/tank is the same which in turn promotes even plating thickness. It also allows new metal ions to get on the substrate faster which speeds up the plating time thus reducing costs.

The larger the vat or tank used the more agitation that will be needed and it can be said that the better the agitation, the better the finish.

Adhesion

Both Activation and Agitation are parts of our processes which help ensure our third ‘A’, Adhesion. Adhesion is the attractive force that exists between an electro-deposit and its substrate (base material). Poor adhesion would lead to the flaking or peeling of the deposit/coating and could be caused by any single process that follows before not being carried out correctly. This is why it’s crucial that throughout the lifecycle of the process that stringent controls are in place, from pre-treatment to the chemical makeup of the baths, to thorough inspection afterwards.

Silchrome plating are fully ISO 9001 and 14001 certified and carry out a wide range of plating and coating processes from our modern facility in Leeds, West Yorkshire. If you are looking for a reliable and high quality metal finishing partner then get in touch today.

 
  • The official logo for the Surface Engineering Association.
  • The official logos for the ISOQAR and UKAS industry regulatory bodies.
  • The official logo for the Institute of Materials Finishing.
  • The official logos for the ISOQAR and UKAS industry regulatory bodies.