Views: 268 Author: ANEBON Publish Time: 2025-01-21 Origin: Site
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Surface treatment involves creating a layer with specific properties on a material's surface using physical or chemical methods. This process can enhance the product's appearance, texture, functionality, and other attributes.
Primarily focused on anodizing aluminum, this process employs electrochemical principles to create a layer of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) on the surface of aluminum and its alloys. This oxide layer possesses unique properties, including protection, decoration, insulation, and resistance to wear.
Process flow:
Single color, gradient color: polishing/sandblasting/brushing→degreasing→anodizing→neutralizing→dyeing→sealing→drying
Two-color:
①Polishing/sandblasting/brushing→degreasing→masking→anodizing 1→anodizing 2→sealing→drying
②Polishing/sandblasting/brushing→degreasing→anodizing 1→laser engraving→anodizing 2→sealing→drying
Technical features:
1. Improve strength
2. Achieve any color except white
3. Achieve nickel-free sealing to meet the nickel-free requirements of Europe, the United States, and other countries
Technical Difficulties and Key Points for Improvement: The yield of anodizing directly impacts the final product's cost. To enhance oxidation yield, it is crucial to manage the right amount of oxidant, maintain appropriate temperature, and adjust current density. Structural parts manufacturers must continuously explore and seek breakthroughs in these areas during the production process. (We recommend following the "Mechanical Engineer" official account for timely updates on valuable industry knowledge and information.)
Product Recommendation: CNC machining services, crafted from anodized material, is environmentally friendly and durable.
Designed for use on stainless steel, aluminum alloy, and similar materials, this process can produce a variety of colors while preserving a metallic luster. It also enhances surface performance and provides excellent anti-corrosion properties.
Process flow: pretreatment → electrophoresis → drying
Advantages:
- Rich colors;
- No metallic texture, can be used with sandblasting, polishing, brushing, etc.;
- Processing in a liquid environment can achieve surface treatment of complex structures;
- Mature technology and mass production.
Disadvantages:
The ability to cover defects is average, and die castings have high requirements for pretreatment for electrophoresis.
The application of high voltage in a weak alkaline electrolyte solution generates a ceramic surface film layer through the synergistic effects of physical discharge and electrochemical oxidation.
Process flow: pre-treatment → hot water washing → MAO → drying
Advantages:
- Ceramic texture, dull appearance, no high-gloss products, delicate feel, anti-fingerprint;
- Wide range of substrates: Al, Ti, Zn, Zr, Mg, Nb, and their alloys, etc.;
- Simple pre-treatment, excellent corrosion resistance, weather resistance, and good heat dissipation performance.
Disadvantages:
Currently, the color options are limited to mature shades like black and gray. Bright colors are difficult to achieve due to high power consumption, which significantly increases the cost of surface treatments.
The full name is physical vapor deposition, which is an industrial manufacturing process that mainly uses physical processes to deposit thin films.
Process flow:
PVD pre-cleaning → vacuuming in the furnace → target washing and ion cleaning → coating → coating completion, cooling, and exiting the furnace → post-processing (polishing, AFP)
Technical features:
PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) can coat metal surfaces with high hardness and high wear resistance metal ceramic decorative coatings.
It is a technology that uses electrolysis to attach a layer of metal film to the surface of the metal, thereby preventing corrosion, improving wear resistance, conductivity, reflectivity, and enhancing aesthetics.
Process flow: pretreatment → cyanide-free alkaline copper → cyanide-free white copper tin → chrome plating
Advantages:
1. High gloss coating, high-quality metal appearance;
2. The base material is SUS, Al, Zn, Mg, etc.; the cost is relatively low compared to PVD.
Disadvantages:
Poor environmental protection and high risk of environmental pollution.
Powder coating is applied to the surface of a workpiece using a powder spraying device, commonly known as an electrostatic spraying machine. Through the action of static electricity, the powder adheres evenly to the workpiece's surface, forming a powder coating. This coating is then leveled and cured through high-temperature baking, resulting in a final finish that can vary in appearance based on the type of powder coating used.
Process flow: loading → electrostatic dust removal → spraying → low-temperature leveling → baking
Advantages:
- Rich colors, high gloss and matte optional;
- Low cost, suitable for architectural furniture products and heat sink shells, etc.;
- High utilization rate, 100% utilization, environmentally friendly;
- Strong ability to conceal defects; 5. It can imitate wood grain effects.
Disadvantages:
Currently, use in electronic products is relatively rare.
It is a surface treatment method that forms lines on the surface of the workpiece by grinding the product to achieve a decorative effect. According to the different lines after wire drawing, it can be divided into: straight wire drawing, random wire drawing, corrugation, and spiral line.
Technical features: Wire drawing can make the metal surface obtain a non-mirror-like metallic luster, and wire drawing can also eliminate minor flaws on the metal surface.
Processing product recommendation: stainless steel turning parts, brass plate processing parts
This process uses compressed air as a power source to create a high-speed jet that sprays material onto the surface of a workpiece. This application changes the appearance or shape of the workpiece's outer surface, while also achieving a certain level of cleanliness and various degrees of roughness.
Technical features:
- Achieve different reflections or matte finishes.
- Can clean the tiny burrs on the surface of the workpiece and make the surface of the workpiece smoother, eliminating the harm of burrs and improving the grade of the workpiece.
- Eliminate any residual dirt from the pre-treatment process to enhance the workpiece's finish. This will reveal a uniform and consistent metal color, making the workpiece's appearance more attractive and appealing.
Product recommendation: aluminum CNC turning parts, brass turning parts
Surface modification of workpieces is performed using flexible polishing tools along with abrasive particles or other polishing media. Different polishing processes include rough polishing (the basic polishing process), medium polishing (the finishing process), and fine polishing (the glazing process). Selecting the appropriate polishing wheel for each process can enhance the polishing effect and improve overall efficiency.
Process flow:
Technical features:
Improve the dimensional accuracy or geometric shape accuracy of the workpiece, obtain a smooth surface or mirror gloss, and also eliminate gloss.
Etching, often called photochemical etching, involves removing the protective film from the area intended for etching after it has been exposed and developed. During the etching process, the exposed area comes into contact with a chemical solution, which dissolves and corrodes the material, creating a raised or recessed effect.
Process flow:
Exposure method: The project opens the material size according to the graphics-material preparation-material cleaning-drying → film or coating → drying → exposure → development → drying-etching → stripping → OK
Screen printing method: cutting → cleaning the plate (stainless steel and other metal materials) → screen printing → etching → stripping → OK
Advantages:
1. Fine processing of metal surface can be performed;
2. Give the metal surface special effects;
Disadvantages:
Most of the corrosive liquids (acids, alkalis, etc.) used in etching are harmful to the environment.
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