FEATURES

Electroplating

An Electropolishing Family Affair

Mother and daughter team up to run a Brooklyn finishing shop that focuses on the medical sector.

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Big Data Pays Big Dividends for Plater

Here’s how metal finisher SWD Inc. is using software to track efficiencies.

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Mechanical Finishing

Electronics Company Gets Boost from Bel Air Finishing

A team from TE Connectivity visited the mass finishing solution provider’s Process Technology Center to get help in developing a very specific surface finish for a new automotive connector.

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Anodizing

How to Minimize Fading of Anodized Colors

All color-anodized parts fade, but if the process is optimized, you can expect years with minimal loss in color, says Reliant Aluminum Products’ Mark Jozefowicz.

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Powder Coating

International Finishing and Coating Summit Is July 30

This is the first-time IFCS will be held in conjunction with the International Thermprocess Summit, highlighting synergy between the two industries and providing expanded opportunities for participants.

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Electroplating

Michigan Takes Steps to Eliminate PFOS, PFOA and PFAS

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is requiring wastewater treatment plants with industrial pretreatment programs to screen for and eliminate these compounds commonly used in the metal-finishing industry.

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Electroplating

Nasmyth Group Opens California Facility

The Nadcap-certified processing line will be able to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing Type II sulfuric anodizing, Type III hard anodizing, passivation and chemical film conversion.

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Liquid Coating

PPG Donates Coatings for Air Heritage's C-47B Warplane Restoration

Air Heritage volunteers worked from drawings to recreate the historic paint scheme, including the nose art that pays homage to two Irish crew members.

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Powder Coating

PPG Forms Mobility Team to Develop Coatings for Self-Driving Cars

PPG unveiled its work with self-driving and electric vehicles in January during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. 

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Liquid Coating

Problem Solved Through New Paint Line

Farming equipment maker Meyer Manufacturing improves throughput by replacing an aging system.

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Electroplating

Process Technology Acquires Dynatronix

Process Technology makes thermal solutions for surface finishing, high-purity and aquaculture applications; Dynatronix manufactures direct-current, pulse and pulse-reverse power supplies.

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Electroplating

The People vs. Mike Huddleston

Here’s the story of how one industry player survived the wrath of disgruntled employees and federal agencies.

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Electroplating

Valence Wichita Receives Approvals from Boeing, Bombardier

The Kansas facility now holds hardness and conductivity approvals from Airbus, Cessna, Spirit, Boeing and Bombardier. 

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Electroplating

Electroless Nickel Coatings: Appearance, Gloss and Surface Morphology

For decorative coatings, appearance is the essential purpose for application, but also for functional surface finishes it becomes increasingly relevant as an added value on top of specified technical requirements.  Appearance is affected by spectrum and intensity of incident light, roughness and morphology of the coating surface, optical properties of the coating material, eventual superficial oxide films, and individual perception.  The predominant factor is surface roughness, which in turn depends on base material roughness, quality of substrate pretreatment, and nucleation and growth kinetics of the electroless nickel (EN) deposit. Interdependency of gloss measurements with roughness measurements and with chemical composition of coatings was investigated for new generation mid-P EN processes and compared to traditional ones.

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Electroplating

Nanostructures by Anodization of Alumina in Phosphoric Acid at Low Potential

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) has been investigated, in terms of influence of the process time, anodizing potential and methanol addition on the structural features of porous anodic alumina formed in 0.1M H₃PO₄ solution by two-step self-organized anodizing for potentials ranging from 100-150 V. The structural features of the porous structures, including pore diameter and interpore distance, were evaluated from FE-SEM top-view images for samples anodized in the presence and absence of methanol.

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