How to choose the right surface treatment
Surface treatments are used in a huge variety of industrial applications and can be applied either physically or chemically to deburr, clean, plate, provide anti-corrosion properties, and achieve other desirable outcomes. When applied correctly, surface treatments can extend the life of a product, enhance its functionality, and make it look good. For some industries, surface treatments are used to ensure industrial providers can meet stringent health and safety and environmental standards.
How do professionals working in the industry know how to choose the correct surface treatments from providers such as https://www.poeton.co.uk/surface-treatments/? Let’s break it down.
Considerations when applying surface treatments
There are four considerations to be made before choosing the right surface treatment, which are the material type, desired properties, manufacturing process, and environmental considerations.
1. Material type
The material type is important because some treatments will work better on certain polymers, alloys, and metal parts.
2. Desired outcome
The desired outcome or property of the treatment must match the requirements of the material; for example, does the treatment need to render the material stronger, chemically resistant, or corrosion resistant? Does it need to aid conductivity or repel water?
3. Manufacturing process
The manufacturing process matters because some types of surface treatments, such as laser cleaning, are naturally better built into automated workflows. Others, such as electroplating, may require skilled human input.
4. Environmental factors
Environmental considerations, such as solvents for degreasing, may be subject to regulatory restrictions; what’s more, there may be other, more eco-friendly options that the business can consider.
Choosing the right approach
Depending on the considerations above, the business might use laser cleaning, laser cladding, laser hardening, abrasive blasting, chemical etching, electromagnetic plating, plasma, anodising, or vapour degreasing. These are the most common surface treatments used in industry, although there are other, more specialist treatments.
The choice of surface treatment can be a complex process requiring the assessment of multiple variables; as such, it will usually be made by skilled professionals with experience in the field, sometimes with the support of AI-driven tools.
