STAINLESS STEEL PASSIVATION: WHY IS IT NECESSARY? WHO IT BENEFITS?
Many industrial applications use stainless steel because of its amazing features that it has such as being corrosion resistant and it has the capability to withstand a high degree of wear and tear. Stainless steel has a lot of valuable traits to passivation.
What Do You Mean by Passivation?
Passivation is a chemical process that makes use of acid to remove excess iron from the material's surface, this results in an inert oxide layer which helps in protecting the steel from rusting.
Stainless steel passivation services are very beneficial as they help in removing iron from the surface material using acid. The result is steel covered with a passivation film that cannot react with water and resists erosion to a higher degree.
How is Passivation Done?
It is very important to follow each step carefully to get the best outcome. The first step involves cleaning the steel thoroughly. The deep cleaning helps in getting rid of impurities like grease, coolant, and iron particles that are present in the environment and get collected on the piece which makes the acid less effective later on.
The acid helps in removing some contaminants, but it does not have the property to break down fats such as grease and oil from the metal. The acid works by sticking to the outside of the material and prevents provides proper passivation of the steel.
Later on, the steel is immersed in an acid bath that is of preferable citric acid. This process will help in removing the free iron and leaving the lower layers of metal alloys like chromium as it is. After this step is completed, you can leave the steel to dry for a day or two and allow the oxygen to form a chromic layer on its surface.
With the change in chromium oxide, a protective effect will occur. The new layer formed will shed off the free iron that will resulting in a steel product that is less reactive to chemicals, more durable, and rust-proof.
When is Passivation of Stainless Steel Required?
After stainless steel has been ground, welded, cut, and subjected to the machining processes, the material is used for a post-fabrication process which is known as passivation. Because stainless steel is naturally resistant to corrosion passivating the material is not always required. In normal and realistic conditions, any of the following can be used to prevent the formation of the oxide film that protects against corrosion:
Foreign substances that are used in a manufacturing setting such as shop dirt, and grinding swarf.
Stainless steel has sulphides which are added for better machinability.
Parts that are made of stainless steel may have iron shavings from cutting tools embedded in their surface.
If you are looking to restore a surface that is uniformly resistant to corrosion, then these contaminants should not be removed down to the surface grain boundaries. These problems can be easily solved with the help of passivation.
CONCLUSION
The passivation process helps in cleaning away these contaminants so that a passive layer can be created to make stainless steel versatile. With the help of good passivation practices, your business can make its products work well in different types of applications. If you are looking for a zinc nickel plating company or any other type of company, make sure to look for their authenticity so that you don't end up getting poor services.