When stainless steel parts are manufactured, they can be left with free iron and other foreign material embedded in the surface. This foreign material enables corrosion over time, shortening the lifespan of the part. Passivation is necessary to remove these embedded contaminants and return the part to its original corrosion specifications.
Though passivation can improve the corrosion resistance of certain stainless steel alloys, it does not eliminate imperfections like micro cracks, burrs, heat tint and oxide scale. If imperfections like these are affecting your part’s performance, it may require a more aggressive finishing method, like electropolishing. Electropolishing can be performed on all grades of stainless steel and instead of removing only surface contaminants like free iron, it removes micro burrs, micro cracks, pits and other imperfections, as well. While passivation may be necessary for returning parts to their corrosion specifications, electropolishing can give those same parts 30 times more corrosion resistance.
Contact us to learn more about electropolishing and passivation
Read our guide to understand why so many of the world’s best-known manufacturers, including Boeing, SpaceX, Tesla, and Volvo, trust Able to electropolish their metal parts.
From unexpected costs to regulatory compliance and safety hazards, in-house electropolishing can pose significant challenges and risks.
Electropolishing is used to improve surface finish and enhance corrosion resistance, enabling critical metal parts to perform better and last longer.
When a marine and rescue hardware manufacturer started developing parts for rescue harnesses in 2018, they knew they needed to find a metal finishing partner with uncompromising standards and no tolerance for error: lives, literally, hang on the line.
