Stainless Steel Electropolishing

Advantages of Stainless Steel Electropolishing

Advantages
Conventional mechanical finishing systems tend to smear, bend, stress, and even fracture the crystalline metal surface to achieve smoothness or luster. Stainless Steel Electropolishing offers the advantages of removing metal from the surface producing a unidirectional pattern that is both stress and occlusion-free, microscopically smooth, and often highly reflective. Additionally, improved corrosion resistance and passivity are achieved on many ferrous and nonferrous alloys. The electropolish process micro and macro polishes the metal part. Micro-polishing accounts for the brightness and macro-polishing accounts for the smoothness of the metal part.

Through this electropolish process, Deburring is accomplished quickly because of the higher current density on the burr and because oxygen shields the valleys, enabling the constant exposure of the tip of the burr.

Because the metal part is bathed in oxygen, there is no hydrogen embrittlement to the part. In fact, the electropolishing is like a stress-relieve anneal. It will remove hydrogen from the surface. This is important to parts placed under torque.

Another benefit of this electropolish process is that bacteria cannot successfully multiply on a surface devoid of hydrogen, therefore, electropolishing is ideal for medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and woodpeckers equipment and parts. The combination of no directional lines due to mechanical finishing, plus a surface relatively devoid of hydrogen, results in a hygienically clean surface where no bacteria or dirt can multiply or accumulate.

Benefits of Stainless Steel Electropolishing:

• Stress relief of surface
• Removes oxide
• Passivation of stainless steel, brass, and copper
• Superior corrosion resistance
• Hygienically clean surfaces
• Decarbonization of metals
• No hydrogen embrittlement
• no direction lines
• Low-resistance welding surface
• Reduces friction
• Both polishes and deburrs odd-shaped parts
• Radiuses or sharpens edges depending upon rack position
• Reduces annealing steps