By submerging metal parts in an electrochemical bath, the electropolishing process dissolves a uniform layer of surface material. This strips away embedded contaminants, heat tint and oxide scale, leaving parts with a bright, corrosion resistant finish. Improving corrosion resistance isn’t the only benefit of this process, though.
Because electropolishing removes a uniform layer of material and not just embedded contaminants, it also dissolves surface imperfections in the part itself. This may include cracks, pits, burrs, and other micro imperfections too small to be seen by the naked eye. Eliminating them doesn’t just eliminate initiation sites for bacterial growth and corrosion—it prevents them from getting bigger over time and inhibiting part performance.
Consequently, electropolishing is good not just for improving corrosion resistance, but for improving part performance and longevity. Metal parts may be less susceptible to premature failure and fatigue stress, and without burrs and jagged edges, they may perform better, as well.
Passivation is an essential finishing process enhancing the durability and efficacy of metal parts in industries with no room for error, such as medical device manufacturing. Critical to ensuring that medical devices perform reliably over time, passivation uses a specialized…
Among the most demanding surface finish requirements of any industry, the specifications, standards and quality assurance processes that cover components used by the semiconductor industry impose metal finishing criteria that leave nothing to chance.
Crafting aerospace components demands precision down to the microscopic level. Through meticulous removal of contaminants and enhancement of corrosion resistance, metal finishing techniques such as passivation help ensure part performance and longevity.
In the heart of a post-World War II industrial boom, a self-taught chemist and visionary, Zenon Pokvitis, laid the foundation for what would become the world’s largest electropolishing specialist — Able Electropolishing.
