Surface Engineering
General Introduction ......................... 1125
Surface Cleaning ” ................................
Cleaning Process Selection .............
Alkaline Cleaning ...........................
Electrolytic Cleaning .......................
Solvent Cleaning .............................
Emulsion Cleaning ..........................
Molten Salt Bath Cleaning ..............
Ultrasonic Cleaning ........................
Acid Cleaning of Iron and Steel ......
Pickling of Iron and Steel ................
Abrasive Blast Cleaning- ..................
Finishing Methods ..............................
Classification of Finishing Methods.
Abrasive Finishing Methods ............
E lectropol ish i ng
Mass Finishing ................................
Shot Peening ...................................
Electrodeposition Processes
Copper Plating ................................
Industrial (Hard) Chromium Plating
Decorative Chromium Plating
Nickel Plating .................................
Iron Plating .....................................
Cadmium Plating
Zinc Plating ....................................
This Section was condensed from Surface Engineering, Volume 5, ASM Handbook, 1994. Supplemental
information was also taken from Materials Selection a n d Design, Volume 20, ASM Handbook, 1997,
pages 470 to 490. Additional information can be found in the selected references cited at the end of
”General Introduction” and by consulting the index to this Handbook.
SURFACE ENGINEERING is a multidiscipli-
nary activity intended to tailor the properties of
the surfaces of engineering components so that
their function and serviceability can be improved.
Surface Engineering, Volume 5 , ASM Handbook
defines surface engineering as “treatment of the
surface and near-surface regions of a material to
allow the surface to perform functions that are
distinct from those functions demanded from the
bulk of the material.” Of concern to the design
engineer is the availability of surface-specific
properties for the component that can provide:
0 Protection in a desired environment
Improved mechanical properties
Electronic or electrical properties
0 Desired appearance
Of further concern to the designer is the avail-
ability of economical processes to produce the
required properties. These processes include soli-
dification treatments such as hot dip coatings,
weld-overlay coatings, and thermal spray sur-
faces; deposition surface treatments such as elec-
trodeposition, chemical vapor deposition, and
physical vapor deposition; and heat treatment
Indium Plating ................................
1126 Tin Plating ......................................
126
127
129 Gold Plating....................................
129 Alloy Plating .........................
131 Selective Plating..............................
131 Electroforming.................................
132 Nonelectrolytic Deposition Processes 151
132 Electroless Nickel Plating ................ 151
133 Electroless Copper Plating............... 152
135 Mechanical Plating .........................
1136 Dip, Barrier, and Chemical
1136 Conversion Coatings _ _ _ _ _ _ _____. _ __ ._ _ _ 1154
1136 Hot-Dip Coating of Steels ............... 1154
1138 Continuous Electrodeposited
1138 Coatings for Steel Strip ............ 1156
1139 Babbitting .......................................
1140 Phosphate Conversion Coatings
1140 Chromate Conversion Coatings ....... 1158
1140 Painting ...........................................
1141 Rust-Preventative Compounds ........ 1160
1143 Weld-Overlay Coatings ................... 1161
1144 Thermal Spray Coatings .................. 1162
1145 Porcelain Enameling
1146 Ceramic Coatings ............................
General Introduction
coatings such as diffusion coatings and surface
hardening. The latter two coating processes are
described in the Section “Heat Treatment” in
this Handbook.
Surface treatments are used in a variety of
ways to improve the material properties of the
component. Coating mechanical properties, for
example, hardness, strength, and toughness, can
improve the component wear, fatigue, and ero-
sion properties, respectively. Electrical properties
in circuit design are dependent on the surface-
deposition processes. Similarly, environmental
properties, such as resistance to aqueous corro-
sion and high-temperature oxidation and sulfida-
tion, can be improved by selective surface treat-
ments.
Although the surface normally cannot be made
totally independent from the bulk, the demands
on surface and bulk properties are often quite
different. For example, in the case of a turbine
blade for a high-performance jet engine, the bulk
of the material must have sufficient creep resis-
tance and fatigue strength at the service tempera-
ture to provide an acceptably safe service life.
The surface of the material, conversely, must
possess sufficient resistance to oxidation and hot
1147 Chemical Vapor Deposition and
1147 Related Processes........................ 1166
148 Physical Vapor Deposition................. 167
148 Surface Engineering of Stainless Steels
148 and Heat-Resistant Alloys ........... 170
149 Surface Engineering of
150 Stainless Steels 170
150 Surface Engineering
Heat-Resistant A1 loys ............... 171
Surface Engineering of Nonferrous
Metals ......................................... 172
153 Surface Engineering of Aluminum
and Aluminum All 172
Surface Engineering of
Copper Alloys .......................... 174
Surface Engineering of Magnesium
Alloys ................................. 176
1157 Surface Engineering of Nickel and
1157 Nickel Alloys ........................... 177
Surface Engineering of Zinc Alloys 178
1159 Surface Engineering of Titanium
and Titanium Alloys ................ 179
Surface Engineering of Zirconium
and Hafnium ........................... 180
1163 Surface Engineering of Refractory
1 164 Metals and Alloys .................... 180
corrosion under the conditions of service to
achieve that same component life. In many in-
stances, it is either more economical or abso-
lutely necessary to select a material with the re-
quired bulk properties and specifically engineer
the surface to create the required interface with
the environment, rather than to find one material
that has both the bulk and surface properties re-
quired to do the job. It is the purpose of this
Section to guide engineers and scientists in the
selection and application of surface treatments
that address a wide range of requirements.
Environmental Regulation
of Surface Engineering
Environmental protection regulations are often
related directly or indirectly to surface engineer-
ing processes. This is particularly applicable for
solvent cleaning procedures, cadmium and chro-
mium electroplating, chromate conversion coat-
ings, and organic coatings containing high
amounts of volatile organic compounds (sol-
vents). The chemicals used for such processes
may pose serious health and environmental haz-
1 126 / Surface Engineering
ards. For information about specific regulatory
requirements, permitting conditions, and enforce-
ment issues, the reader is advised to seek assis-
tance from federal, state, and local regulatory
agencies; consulting engineering firms; and law
offices. Another valuable source of information
can he found in the Section “Environmental Pro-
tection Issues’’ published in Surface E n g i n e e r i n g ,
Volume 5 , ASM H a n d b o o k . Articles contained in
this Section describe various environmental stat-
utes affecting selection of surface engineering
processes and review specific processes that can
be used to replace cadmium coatings, chromium
coatings, and chromate conversion coatings, as
well as alternatives to vapor degreasing and wipe
solvent cleaners.
Cleaning
Process Selection
IN SELECTING A METAL CLEANING PRO-
CESS, many factors must he considered, includ-
ing (a) the nature of the soil to he removed, (b)
the substrate to be cleaned (i.e., ferrous, nonfer-
rous, etc.), (c) the importance of the condition
of the surface to the end use of the part, (d) the
degree of cleanliness required, (e) the existing
capabilities of available facilities, (f) the environ-
mental impact of the cleaning process, (8) cost
considerations, (h) the total surface area to be
cleaned, (i) effects of previous processes, (j)rust
inhibition requirements, (k) materials handling
factors, and (I) surface requirements of suhse-
quent operations, such as phosphate conversion
coating, painting, or plating.
Types of soil can he broadly classified into six
groups: pigmented drawing compounds, unpig-
mented oil and grease, chips and cutting fluids,
polishing and buffing compounds, rust and scale,
and miscellaneous surface contaminants, such as
lapping compounds and residue from magnetic
particle inspection.
Removal of Pigmented
Drawing Compounds
All pigmented drawing lubricants are difficult
to remove from metal parts. Consequently, many
plants review all aspects of press forming opera-
tions to avoid the use of pigmented compounds.
Table 1 indicates cleaning processes typically se-
lected for removing pigmented compounds from
drawn and stamped parts.
Removal of Unpigmented
Oil and Grease
Common shop oils and greases, such as unpig-
mented drawing lubricants, rust-preventive oils,
SELECTED REFERENCES
0 Corrosion Protection Methods, Corrosion, Vol 13, ASM
Handbook, ASM International, 1987
0 Design for Surface Finishing, Materials Selection and De-
sign, Vol 20, ASM Handbook. ASM International, 1997, p
820-827
0 L.J. Durney, Ed., Electroplating Engineering Handbook,
4th ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1984
0 Effects of Surface Treatments on Materials Performance,
Materials Selection and Design, Vol 20, ASM Handbook,
ASM International, 1997, p 470-490
0 J.D. Keane, Ed., Steel Structures Painting Manual, Steel
Structures Painting Council, 1989
0 G.O. Mallory and J.B. Hajdu, Ed., Electroless Plating: Fun-
damentals and Applications. American Electroplaters Soci-
ety, 1990
Surface Cleaning
and quenching and lubricating oils, can be effec-
tively removed by several different cleaners.
Table 1 lists cleaning methods frequently used
for removing oils and greases.
Removal of Chips and
Cutting Fluids from Steel Parts
Cutting and grinding fluids used for machining
can be classified into three groups:
0 Plain or sulfurized mineral and fatty oils (or
combination of the two), chlorinated mineral
oils, and sulfurized chlorinated mineral oils
0 Conventional or heavy-duty soluble oils with
sulfur or other compounds added and soluble
grinding oils with wetting agents
0 Chemical cutting fluids, which are water-solu-
ble and generally act as cleaners. They contain
soaps, amines, sodium salts of sulfonated fatty
alcohols, alkyl aromatic sodium salts of sulfo-
nates, or other types of soluble addition agents
Usually, all three types of fluids are easily re-
moved, and the chips fall away during cleaning,
unless the chips or part become magnetic. Plain
boiling water is often suitable for removing these
soils, and in some plants, mild detergents are
added to the water to increase its effectiveness.
Steam is widely used for in-process cleaning, es-
pecially for large components. Table 1 indicates
cleaning processes typically used for removing
cutting fluids to meet specific production require-
ments.
Removal of Polishing
and Buffing Compounds
Table 1 lists preferred and alternate methods
for removing polishing and buffing compounds
from sheet metal parts. However, some modifica-
tion may be required for complete removal of all
classes of these soils.
0 C.G. Munger, Corrosion Prevention by Protective Coat-
ings, National Association of Corrosion Engineers, 1985
0 S.M. Rossnagel, J.J. Cuomo, and W. Westwood, Ed., Hand-
book of Plasma Processing Technology: Fundamentals.
Etching, Deposition, and Surface Interactions, Noyes Publi-
cations, 1990
0 W.A. Safranek, The Properties of Electrodeposited Metals
and Alloys: A Handbook, 2nd ed., American Electroplaters
and Surface Finishers Society, 1986
0 K.K. Shuegrat, Ed., Handbook of Thin Film Deposition Pro-
cesses and Techniques, Noyes Publications, 1988
0 K.H. Stem, Ed., Metallurgical and Ceramic Protective
Coatings. Chapman and Hall, 1996
0 Surface Engineering, Vol5, ASM Handbook, ASM Interna-
tional, 1994
0 Surface Treatments and Coatings for Friction and Wear
Control, Friction. Lubrication, and Wear Technology, Vol
18, ASM Handbook, ASM International, 1992
‘Removal of Rust and Scale
The seven basic methods used for removing
rust and scale from ferrous mill products, forg-
ings, castings, and fabricated metal parts are:
0 Abrasive blasting (dry or wet)
0 Tumbling (dry or wet)
0 Brushing
0 Acid pickling
0 Salt bath descaling
0 Alkaline descaling
0 Acid cleaning
The most important considerations in selecting
one of the previous methods are:
0 Thickness of rust or scale
0 Composition of metal
0 Condition of metal (product form or heat treat-
ment)
0 Allowable metal loss
0 Surface finish tolerances
0 Shape and size of workpieces
0 Production requirements
0 Available equipment
0 cost
0 Freedom from hydrogen emhrittlement
Combinations of two or more of the available
processes are frequently used to advantage.
Removal of Residues from
Magnetic Particle and
Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection
Successful removal of the iron oxide particles
deposited on ferrous parts during magnetic parti-
cle inspection requires complete demagnetization
of the part. After demagnetization, emulsion
cleaning is an effective and practical means of
removing both the iron oxide residues and oil.
Fluorescent pigments used for similar inspection
of aluminum parts can be removed with hot alka-
line cleaners.