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Living in Interesting Times
How is the COVID-19 outbreak affecting your business? Stepping into the role of editor of Products Finishing in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak has been odd, to say the least. Here’s my story — tell us yours.
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NASF/AESF University Funded Research Transitioned to Industry: Practical Performance Improvements in Functional REACH-Compliant Trivalent Chromium Plating
This paper shows information learned from a NASF/AESF Foundation Research grant which has led to successful application. The work at the University of Houston (UH) is discussed – a technique developed to perform in-situ analysis of the stress of the chromium deposit from a REACH-compliant trivalent chromium electrolyte. An understanding of crack formation during plating has led the way to a means to avoid it. Faraday Technology Inc. scaled-up and optimized the same process through support from the U.S. Army. The results enabled significant chromium coating performance enhancements, matching the wear index of conventional Cr deposits from hexavalent baths.
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Goad's PVDF Liners Feature Drop-In Installation
Liners designed for highly corrosive, high-temperature applications.
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Decorative Trivalent Chromium Deposits Applied by Barrel Electroplating
With the wide acceptance of the benefits of decorative trivalent chromium plating, there is a growing demand to successfully adapt this technology to barrel plating. Traditionally, trivalent chromium deposits were not commercially viable using barrel electroplating. Factors such as barrel design, cathode contact, anode placement and current density must be considered when providing a trivalent chromium barrel electrodeposit. This presentation outlines trivalent deposits applied in a barrel and examines variables in operating and electrolyte compositions.
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Correlation Between Electrochemical Behavior and Neutral Salt Fog Corrosion on TCP Coated AA2024
Differences in open circuit potential, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Tafel analysis were observed and quantified between the best- and worst-performing processes.
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Best Plating Practices for the Application of Brush Plated Zinc-Nickel
Brush plating is an industrial electroplating process designed for demanding OEM and repair applications, without the use of an immersion tank. This presentation demonstrates the best practices for brush plating zinc-nickel to meet the ASTM standards of hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion protection. From preparatory steps to the application of a trivalent chromium conversion coating, the proper plating techniques needed to meet the customers’ demanding requirements are discussed.
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Nanostructure of Porous Anodic Aluminum Oxide: Advances in Surface Engineering
Porous alumina membranes of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) are widely used for the fabrication of various nanostructures and nanodevices. Over the last decade, nanowires, nanotubes and nanodot arrays, have been fabricated by the deposition of various metals, semiconductors, oxides and polymers inside the pores of AAO membranes. These structures are produced by changing the anodization conditions, during electrochemically self -ordering of AAO. One can obtain amorphous barrier-type oxides, crystalline barrier-type oxides or amorphous nanoporous oxides, but fabricating binary nanostructures is challenging. Here, we review methods to achieve diverse binary nanostructure arrays, including material, dimension and morphology.
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Improved Process Capabilities for Groove Repair
Advanced selective plating techniques have been developed for the challenging application of repairing internal grooves that have experienced severe corrosion. Many groove configurations require uniform, high-thickness deposition of a plated deposit onto any, or all, of the surfaces with a minimal need for intermediate machining steps. This paper demonstrates how a combination of an engineered, wrap-less anode design along with optimized computer controlled operating parameters has led to reduced downtime, high quality and repeatable selective plating repairs.
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A Conversation With Brad Durkin, Coventya
Brad Durkin is director of international product management for Coventya, and the chairperson of the SUR/FIN Technical Advisory Committee that puts together the conference sessions each summer.
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Novel Post Treatment of Nano-particle Reinforced Metallic Coatings
This paper discusses a novel post-treatment reinforcement process for both electroless and electrolytic nano-composite coatings which further improves the hardness of the coating (+40%), while also improving the ductility of the material. This technology is applicable to commercial baths for a large variety of electrolytic and electroless coatings. Interestingly, post-treated coatings retain performance at higher temperatures, suggesting improved oxide dispersion strengthening effects, potentially offering new coating options for high temperature applications.
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