Electropolishing & Deburring Case Studies

Alloy: Nickel

Industry: Electrical

Total Material Removed: .001”
(or half that amount per surface)

Challenge:

• Delicate ribs showed obvious contamination, burrs, and recast materials
• Mechanical cleaning had risk of warping or distortion

Solution:

• All critical surfaces were completely cleaned of surface and sub-surface contamination with electropolishing
• Removal of stress cracks improved product life

Alloy: Brass/Copper

Industry: Electronics/Communication

Challenge:

• Edges of fingers were causing problems in assembly of the finished product
• Could not vibra-finish the part due to the fragile nature of the fingers

Solution:

• Electropolishing removed the burrs and made the part’s surface smoother
• Achieved without incurring any damage to the fragile fingers

Alloy: Stainless

Industry: Food/Beverage

Challenge:

• Weld discoloration
• Surfaces needed to be easily cleaned with minimal food adhesion

Solution:

• Electropolishing removed the weld discoloration and sub-surface contamination
• Improved corrosion resistance, achieving a smoother surface that is easier to clean

Alloy: Steel

Industry: Automotive

Total Material Removed: .0005"
(or half that amount per surface)

Challenge:

• Heat treating caused the internal gear teeth to grow

Solution:

• Electropolishing the steel removed varying amounts of surface material until achieving the ideal size
• Internal gear teeth were resized uniformly, ensuring that the part fit its mate

Alloy: Brass/Copper

Industry: Food/Beverage

Challenge:

• After machining, a burr was produced around the edge of the outlet hole
• Problem persisted after trying other methods of deburring

Solution:

• Part was electropolished with a minimum stock removal to clean up the orifice
• Part now has a controlled, constant stream

Alloy: Stainless

Industry: Medical/Dental

Challenge:

• The teeth of this stainless steel blade had large, hanging burrs
• Hand deburring was neither an economical nor a consistent solution

Solution:

• Electropolishing removed the burrs while retaining the sharp blade
• Ultraclean, exceptionally corrosion resistant surface across the entire part

Alloy: Stainless

Industry: Medical/Dental

Total Material Removed: .0005"
(or half that amount per surface)

Challenge:

• This medical part needed to be free of contaminants and burrs to improve release characteristics
• Because the part has many small holes, hand deburring operations would be time-consuming and imperfect

Solution:

• Electropolishing the parts removed a uniform amount of surface metal and eliminated potential initiation sites for corrosion and burrs

Alloy: Titanium

Industry: Medical/Dental

Total Material Removed: .0003"
(or half that amount per surface)

Challenge:

• From heat treatment, this titanium part had a film of gray, dusty scale
• Intricate machined features and small holes proved difficult to clean by other metal polishing techniques

Solution:

• Electropolishing removed a uniform amount of surface metal from the titanium part, achieving a bright and uniform finish free of tint and scale while maintaining tolerance

Alloy: Titanium

Industry: Medical/Dental

Total Material Removed: .0005"
(or half that amount per surface)

Challenge:

• Black, amorphous layer created by thread rolling on titanium parts
• Premature corrosion due to embedded contamination from tooling

Solution:

• Electropolishing provided a consistent finish acceptable for a part used in a medical or surgical setting and reduced the coefficient of friction, creating a better finish on the thread