Electropolishing is a popular method used to finish off a particular component or item. This electrochemical process is the opposite of electroplating. Many industries choose to have their items electropolished for several reasons. These include both aesthetic and practical ones.
Why Electropolishing?
Electropolishing is a process that many industries select under certain circumstances. While other methods and processes do exist, Electropolishing is chosen when the components do not conform to a regular shape. If the demand is for a highly polished and smooth item, regular buffing and polishing cannot accomplish this. The equipment and the shape of the object prohibit a complete finishing be performed.
Electropolishing, on the other hand, is ideally designed to handle odd and irregularly shaped objects. It is the better and, sometime, the only way, to obtain a polished surface. It is the best means to remove the edges and produce an item that features clean edges and a smooth appearance.
Advantages of Electropolishing
Electropolishing is a process that provides certain benefits over other methods such as grinding, buffing and blasting. The results of such an application include:
* Removal of edge burrs and any other roughness on the surface
* Production of a passive surface
* Improves reflectivity
* Enhances the appearance of the metal
* Improves corrosion resistance
* Prepares the surface of the metal for any of the following: plating or an oxidizing or conversion coating
* Eradicates the stressed and disturbed layers of the surface metal
* Removes such metal impurities as carbon, free iron and silica
* Makes equipment and surfaces easier to clean and keep sterile
Essentially, electropolishing is responsible for providing the metal surface with a product that is more resistant to rust while giving it a smoother appearance. It accomplishes this by removing excess and undesirable metal pieces an ion at a time. Not a single torn or irregular element of the metal surface remains. What is left is a featureless but clean, bright, and meticulously smooth product.
What Equipment or Tools Benefit from Electropolishing
Many complex or irregularly shaped tools and other items benefit from electropolishing. The process is used for
* The stainless steel drums of washing machines
* Components for vacuums
* Medical equipment including surgical devices
* Equipment used in diverse laboratories
Electropolishing
If an industry wishes to improve the quality of the metal by removing all the burrs, spikes and other imperfections, it can employ one of several methods. Yet, while grinding, blasting and buffing may be excellent choices under some circumstances, they do not provide the best results under others. If a completely smooth and sterile surface, free from extraneous particles is the desired product, the process that can deliver this is electropolishing.
