Benefits of Zinc Plating

Zinc Plating with Passivate is one of the most popular metal finishing processes for a wide range of components including screws, fasteners as well pressings and automotive components. It is popular for a number of reasons:

 

Low Cost: Zinc as a material is abundant in nature within the Earth's Crust and this makes it much more affordable than other metal finishing processes. It offers a good level of corrosion resistance considering this low cost point.

 

Thin Coating: The corrosion resistance of Zinc Plating with Passivate is especially high when you consider the thin nature of the film produced. (Typically between 8-12 microns) This makes it ideal for smaller sized components with more intricate geometries such as machined screws and threaded parts.

 

Undercoat: This thin nature and strong adherence makes Zinc Plating a good option for use as an undercoat on other processes such as paint and powder coating. The paint will adhere better to the surface of a component that has undergone Zinc Plating and so less will be needed to achieve a finish, saving money overall.

 

Corrosion Resistance: Zinc Plating with Passivate is suitable for combating the effects of Oxygen and Water, but will not perform well in chemically corrosive environments.

 

Range of Finishes: The addition of a Passivation process further aids the corrosion resistance of Zinc Plating and there are a range of different finishes including: Clear/Blue, Yellow/Gold, Black, Olive Drab. We also offer a Trivalent Passivate that is a light blue shade, and may be specified where environmental standards need to be made.

 

Silchrome Plating are fully ISO 9001 and 14001 certified and offer Zinc Plating with a range of passivates. If you are unsure which metal finishing process is right for you then get in touch and we will offer our best advice.