Hard Chromium Plating and Fixturing
Question: I have recently been put in charge of our hard chromium plating operations.
Share
Question:
I have recently been put in charge of our hard chromium plating operations. I am new to electroplating and want to learn more about the chromium plating process. I want to learn how to do it right as opposed to the “we have always done it this way” approach. Can you suggest some books and references I can read to learn more about the hard chromium plating process? Thanks for the advice. S.D.
Answer:
First, I must say it is refreshing to find individuals that want to learn how to do the process properly. One of the continuing problems in our industry has been what I call the “we have always done it this way syndrome.”
There are a number of sources on the “science and art” of hard chromium plating. Some of these sources are hard to locate.
There are a number of books that discuss the process in detail. My favorite is The Handbook of Hard Chromium Plating by R.K. Guffie, 1986. The book is out-of-print, but you should be able to purchase a used copy at www.amazon.com. The author worked in the “trenches” for many years and takes a very practical approach to the plating process. Two other books that contain a lot of information are Nickel and Chromium Plating, 3rd ed. by J.K. Dennis and T. E. Such, 1993 and Chromium Plating by R. Weiner and A. Walmsley, 1980. Both of these books are available from Metal Finishing Publications, 212-633-3199.
The 2002 PRODUCTS FINISHING DIRECTORY AND TECHNOLOGY GUIDE has an article that covers hard chrome and trivalent chrome plating, with a comparison of the two. You can access this at www.pfonline.com/articles/pfd0016.html.
I am aware of two papers that discuss rack design, anode configurations, shield and baffles. Both papers, authored by E.C. Krill, appeared in Plating and Surface Finishing, 76, January 1989, 62-69 and March 1989, 38-45.
One last comment, all the books and papers in the world will not make you an expert. You still need hands-on experience.
Related Content
-
NASF/AESF Foundation Research Project #122: Electrochemical Approaches to Treatment of PFAS in Plating Wastewater - 9th Quarterly Report
The NASF-AESF Foundation Research Board selected a project addressing the problem of PFAS and related chemicals in plating wastewater streams. This report covers the ninth quarter of work (January-March 2023). In this report, we describe our work on evaluating the performance of PFAS degradation by electrooxidation using surface fluorinated Ti4O7 anodes in batch mode.
-
Hubbard-Hall Acquires BioConversion Technology
The acquisition adds experience and biologics to the AquaPure product line.
-
NASF/AESF Foundation Research Project #122: Electrochemical Approaches to Treatment of PFAS in Plating Wastewater - 6th Quarterly Report
The NASF-AESF Foundation Research Board has selected a project on addressing the problem of PFAS and related chemicals in plating wastewater streams, studying PFAS destruction via electrooxidation and electrocoagulation. This sixth quarter report covers the continued assessment of eight perfluoroalkyl acids PFAAs most commonly found in wastewaters, by electro-oxidation with a Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode across a range of anodic potentials in solutions, exploring the reaction mechanisms. To summarize, the PFAAs start to exhibit degradation behavior when the anodic potential reaches a level where water oxidation occurs, suggesting that the hydroxyl free radicals generated via water oxidation play a role in PFAA degradation.
