Mechanical plating

By B. Chatterjee

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE), a serious concern of electroplaters, is the major

reason for the continued growth of mechanical plating. The technique involves
cold welding of ductile metal onto a metal substrate in a slurry of impact media.
It utilizes mechanical energy only, and therby minimises or avoids hydrogen
evolution and hence HE. The technology of mechanical plating is evaluated in
terms of operation, application, cost and product properties.

1 Introduction order to avoid HE when zinc plating steel parts. In

Mechanical plating is sometimes known as peen-
plating or mechanical galvanizing. The three terms
are not completely synonymous, as described below.
The process involves the use of mechanical force to
coat steel parts with a ductile metal such as zinc, tin,
cadmium etc. Because aqueous electrolytes are not
used, no effluent is produced by the process itself
(though some effluent may arise from preceding or
following processes.) The process is carried out at
ambient temperatures, unlike hot-dip galvanizing
and thus poses no problem for assemblies which
include plastic components or other temperature-
sensitive materials. But perhaps most important of
all, the absence of electrolysis removes at a stroke,
any danger from hydrogen embrittlement (HE)
since there is no cathodically formed hydrogen.
Hydrogen embrittlement is a serious, in some cases
unavoidable problem in electroplating. It is most
acute in acid electrolytes (where hydrogen is more
easily evolved) and when plating high strength
steel components. HE is initiated by absorption
of hydrogen during electroplating and can result
in premature failure of parts with a sudden devel-
opment of hairline cracks in highly stressed areas
followed by total fracture when in service. Steel
components with high hardness, and hence high
strength derived from cold working, heat treatment
or composition, are highly susceptible to HE. A
brief outline of the mechanism of failure of high
tensile steel parts due to absorption and entrapment
of hydrogen during electroplating, is presented in
the Appendix which highlights the importance of
having available, an alternative to electroplating in
situations where HE is unavoidable, there is only
one solution, which is to bake out the components
after plating, a lengthy and expensive additional
stage. Studies have been reported which show that
HE is less serious in some electrolytes than others,
while organic additives can somewhat mitigate the
effect. Nevertheless, wherever cathodic hydrogen
is formed, the danger of HE remains.
In mechanical plating, by contrast, the probabil-
ity of developing HE to a degree that will cause
part failure under specified conditions is almost
negligible. The technique of mechanical coating,
as the name implies, basically utilises mechanical
energy to deposit a metallic coating. Such coatings
are primarily formed by cold welding of an oxide-
free ductile metal such as zinc, cadmium, lead or
tin onto an oxide-free metal substrate whereby a
metallic bonding is established via free exchange of
electrons. The possible avoidance of HE problems
makes the technique a useful alternative to electro-
plating for zinc coating hardened steel components
(normally referred to hardness > 34 Rc or tensile
strength > 1050 MPa as per BS 1706 : 1990 [1]).
The process is not new, dating back to the late
1940’s and early 1950’s when it was first developed
by Erith Clayton of the Tainton Co., Baltimore,
USA 1953 [2]. Since the first patent was issued,
the method of mechanical plating has progressed
through various stages of technology. The process
originally known as peen plating or impact plating,
involved mechanical bonding or cold welding of
metal to be plated onto a substrate. Over the years,
other designations such as mechanical plating and
mechanical galvanizing have been used to cover a
 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
range of deposit thickness. For example, mechani-
cal plating refers to a coating thickness range of
about 5 to 25 microns comparable with that for
electroplating process, while a heavier coating up
to 110 microns is normally classified as mechanical
galvanizing, where it competes with the similarly
thick deposits formed in hot dip galvanizing. The
specifications for mechanical plating and galvaniz-
ing are given in the following standards.
– BS 7371: Part 7 : 1994
– ASTM B454 MIL C 815629, and
– ASTM B695 AASHTO M-276-791.
2 System evaluation
The main materials used for mechanical coating of
zinc onto oil-free steel parts include fine spherical
zinc powders for plating which are kept clean and
free from agglomeration by addition of special
chemicals (promoters), glass impact beads, water,
and chemicals for surface preparation of parts. Ini-
tially, the technique was used to plate steel balls in
a horizontal tumbling barrel with additions of some
chemicals, solvent and zinc dust. During the evo-
lution of the technique, the steel balls themselves
became the impact media in order to plate more
complicated parts. Of course, in such a process the
entire contents of the mill which included the parts
to be plated, the steel balls and the inside of the
barrel were all coated.
Later, granitor alumina chips mixed with glass
beads were used as the impact media, because these
materials would not plate owing to their inertness.
In this way, less metal powder was consumed lead-
ing to a more efficient process in terms of zinc
utilisation. The original process was also carried
out using citric acid which required long operation
times of 1 to 2 hours yielding poor coating effi-
ciency around 20 %. Furthermore, problems were
encountered in the past to treat the wastewater due
to the complications from the chelated chemistry
used. Today’s coating system is mainly based on
mineral acids operating at a low pH of 1 to 2. The
processing times are shorter (between 20 and 50
minutes) with a coating efficiency of over 90 %.
Also, since the waste is unchelated, it requires
simple treatment as per standard practice.
137
2.1 Equipment
The rotating barrel with a variable speed, is usually
polygonal, constructed from mild steel or stainless
steel. It has an impervious protective lining of acid
and abrasion resistant material such as synthetic
or natural rubber (neoprene, polypropylene, poly-
butylene or urethane) or similar plastic which will
resist any damage to the barrel from a) the tumbling
action of parts and glass beads against the lining,
and b) the use of a low (1 to 2) pH slurry. The thick-
ness of the lining ranges usually between 19 and
25 mm; thicker lining may be required in high wear
areas such as the inner base of the barrel.
The most effective barrels are of tulip design
capable of attaining variable speed to generate the
necessary tumbling action for efficient deposition.
It is important to apply a correct speed, because too
fast rotation could end up with a lumpy deposit,
while a slow speed could result in no zinc deposit.
The energy input in mechanical coating is control-
led by the rotation speed and angle of the barrel.
Most application use nearly 60 rpm at a typical tilt
angle of approximately 30 degrees from horizon-
tal. In general, larger diameter drums will rotate
slower, reflecting the fact that the key parameter
is not rotation speed but peripheral velocity. Also,
lighter parts usually require more energy than
heavier parts. With regard to the barrel sizes, they
can vary from a small cement mixer type tumbling
barrel with a volume of 30 to 130 litres used in the
1950s and 1960s to today’s range of 170 to 1100
litres. The working volume is normally restricted to
25 to 35 % of the total volume of the barrel. A large
barrel can coat up to 1500 kg/load.
The complete operation is an engineered system
involving weighing, loading the plating barrel, han-
dling of impact media of various sizes, vibratory
hoppers and separator to remove the media from
the processed parts, chromating tanks and dryers.
The separator can be a simple screen with a water
spray, or a more sophisticated mechanical vibra-
tory mechanism with a magnetic separator. There
is no direct use of electrical energy in the process
except to drive the rotating barrel, hopper, separa-
tor and drier. The overall electrical consumption in
mechanical plating is thus low and estimated to be only
about 5 % that of conventional zinc electroplating.
138 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
2.2 Surface preparation
Cleaning of parts can be carried out in the rotating
barrel itself or externally in a conventional clean-
ing line. Heavily soiled parts are best handled in an
off-line cleaning set up. Surface conditioning is the
next essential step for successful plating whereby
the surface is activated, de-rusted and de-scaled by
the conditioner via chemical reaction. The slurry of
glass beads exerting scrubbing action also facili-
tates oxide removal from the parts. Surface con-
ditioners contain mineral acids, wetting agents and
inhibitors to prevent attack on metal parts and to
provide a proper pH of 1 to 2 to promote adhesion
and high deposition efficiency of the plating reac-
tion in the barrel. It was first thought that addition
of an organic liquid such as xylol, naphtha or min-
eral spirits together with a small amount of mineral
oil or fatty acid would provide uniform deposition.
Later, it was found [3] that additions of soaps and
detergents would not only yield a denser deposit,
but also facilitate the finish articles to be burnished
to a high lustre A widely used promoter chemical
today is a water-soluble compound, for example
consisting essentially of a cleaning agent, a sur-
factant and an anti-foaming agent [4]. Condition-
ing also produces a copper flash of about 1 µm
thickness by galvanic (immersion or displacement)
plating method using an acidic copper solution
which serves to clean the parts and media.
Among the variously suggested immersion copper
solutions, the most convenient one is a solution of
2 % copper sulphate, 1 % sodium chloride, 3 % sul-
phuric acid and a wetting agent operating at room
temperature for about 30 seconds.
The copper barrier serves a dual purpose. It acts as
a barrier to hydrogen diffusion, thereby producing
a more consistent metal surface, minimizing differ-
ences in the metallurgy of the substrate material.
Copper also prevents the oxidation of the steel
substrate when the articles are being transferred
(normally within 3 minutes after coppering) to the
plating barrel itself.
Proprietary promoter chemical usually stannous tin
salt is also added which takes about 1 to 2 minutes
to mix or dissolve in the system. The platable tin
compound is preferably a bivalent tin salt such as
stannous chloride or sulphate which is soluble in
both water and acid. The promoter co-deposits with
the zinc powder and facilitates plating of a smooth
coating. In the absence of a promoter, zinc will plate
out very unevenly. Promoter also serves to clean the
metal powder, controls the size of the metal powder
agglomerates that are formed, and acts as a catalyst
or accelerator to the coating process controlling the
coating efficiency and uniformity.
Addition of a driving metal such as aluminium
to a solution of a tin salt is a common practice in
mechanical plating whereby tin is galvanically
reduced to metallic tin. It has been found that co-
deposition of zinc along with aluminium and tin
provides a strongly adherent deposit with improved
corrosion resistance. This mirrors, in many ways,
developments in hot-dip galvanising where use of
pure molten zinc has largely been replaced by use
of zinc-aluminium and other alloys. The chemicals,
namely the conditioners and promoters are additive
in principle which means that the ingredients of the
chemicals used in a previous batch are necessary to
maintain the proper plating conditions.
2.3 Impact media and metal powder
The plating media or impact bodies can comprise
any small dense bodies preferably in spherical
form, with sufficient mechanical strength and
chemical inertness. From the very early days of
commercial mechanical plating in barrels, the
impact material has been glass beads which have
become an important component of the plating
process by assisting necessary surface preparation
via mild abrasive action, promoting the dispersion
of chemicals within the barrel, helping to separate
parts, and above all providing an energy transfer
system for even metallic deposition across the
substrate topography.
The beads are clear, colourless glass spheres, made
of soda lime glass. They are chemically inert and
non-toxic with a low coefficient of friction and
high wear resistance, and can be recycled many
times which ensures cost-effectiveness. Generally,
a 1:1 mix of glass beads and steel parts is added to
the barrel for mechanical plating of fasteners and
press work, while a higher ratio of 2:1 is normally
recommended for mechanical galvanizing. Media
 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
mixes consist of two or more sizes of glass beads
in the range of 1 to 6 mm diameter. The choice of
a particular size and the relative amount depend
on several factors such as size of parts and finish
required. A typical mix would be 50 % of 4 to
5 mm, 25 % of 2 to 2.5 mm and 25 % of 1 to
1.25 mm diameter beads.
It is important to check that the media does not
lodge within the parts. Recessed fastener heads are
thus a common problem. When the media amount
drops, parts will scrape on each other causing poor
adhesion, scratched coatings, and thin-edge prob-
lems. If an excess of media is crushed, it will be
abrasive and wear the coating off as fast as it is put
on. The glass slurry besides exerting a scrubbing
action to remove oxide scale, cushions parts from
one another, thereby minimizing or eliminating
any damage to edges and sharp corners. Further,
the slurry separates and allows movement between
parts and thereby preventing flat pieces from cling-
ing together by surface tension, which is a common
occurrence in electroplating process. Slurry carries
the plating materials and mechanical energy into
holes and recesses.
Initially a small amount of zinc powder is added
with the promoter to act as flash or seed in order
to provide sites for adhesion of subsequent metal
powder additions. For the actual plating of the zinc
powder (4 to 10 µm diameter), smaller but frequent
additions normally three to eight times are usual,
with each addition requiring 1 to 3 minutes. Since
the frequency of additions affect the coating qual-
ity, it is advisable to add the powder incrementally
which will not only assist easier addition but also
ensure uniform dispersion of the powder within the
barrel load so that a smooth coating distribution
throughout the entire load can be achieved along
with an optimum thickness uniformity. Three to
four increments would achieve a deposit of 8 to
12 µm thickness, while six or more is advised
for the larger galvanizing deposits. Typically the
amount of zinc powder required is 7.7 g/m2/μm
which is based upon the total surface area and the
deposit thickness required. The metal powder can
also be added in the form of an aqueous slurry,
helping to improve the uniformity of coating.
139
For high zinc efficiency and rapid plating, the
mass of glass media needs to be free-flowing and
very permeable to allow the zinc powder to move
through with minimum resistance. Also, the impact
media needs some lifting capability especially
while dealing with heavy parts such as large bolts
and pole-line hardware for telephone and cable tel-
evision lines, so as to be able to reorient the work as
it tumbles. Large glass balls about 5 mm diameter
are required to maintain a permeable mass of glass
and provide sufficient lift. The drawback with large
balls is the difficulty to pump them up in the barrel.
The use of smaller quantity of large balls means
poor permeability. This can be compensated by
additions of large quantities of zinc powder which
in turn would seriously hinder its migration. This
has led, as mentioned earlier, to the use of frequent
but small additions of zinc powder.
An improved technology is claimed to involve use
of rubbery resilient material such as high density
neoprene, silicone or butyl rubbers instead of glass
beads, which aid in forming a very permeable mix,
producing random movements of the work and
cushioning the moving parts being plated from
chipping or damage done to the sharp edges and
corners [5]. Also, steel shot of size of 0.25 to 0.4 mm
with a hardness of 450 HV has been used in mix-
ture with 25 to 40 % by weight of an alloy powder
of zinc containing 2.5 to 50 % iron with hardness
in the range 140 to 450 HV [6]. The hard alloy
powder in the mixture undergoes brittle fracture
during tumbling action of the barrel, exposing fresh
surface for mechanical plating on the work.
Greater amount of coating with better red rust
resistance was reported by comparing with coating
produced from a mixture of steel shot and zinc
powder only. Typically, a minimum coating amount
of 150 mg/dm2 was obtained showing resistance to
red rust when exposed to neutral salt (5 % sodium
chloride solution) spray test for at least 270 hours.
An improvement in torque/tension relation i.e.
lubricity by 10 % has been claimed on mechani-
cally plated parts by adding solid lubricant such as
Teflon or fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon blended poly-
mers to the plating barrel, preferably between 5 and
10 % by weight [7]. The lubricant particles should
be inert and sized to a diameter smaller than the
140 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
resulting coating thickness so that the particles are
entrapped/incorporated within the mechanically
plated somewhat porous coating.
2.4 Mechanics of operation
A typical operation for mechanical plating of small
steel parts at ambient temperatures involves use of
rotating barrels containing glass beads as impact
media, surface conditioners and spherical zinc
powder. The kinetic energy expended from the
rotation of the barrel is transmitted through a slurry
of glass media and chemicals to the steel parts. The
tumbling action of part-on-part and bead-on-part
creates mechanical energy which causes the spheri-
cal metal particles to deform, approximately dou-
bling their surface area, before being cold welded
to form a bond with the total surface area of the
workpiece substrate, leaving no unplated areas.
This metallurgical bonding occurs first to the sub-
strate and subsequently to the previously bonded
particles in order to build up the desired coating
thickness. Both the powder surface and the metal
parts remain oxide free. It is about 95 to 98 % of the
plating metal added to the slurry which is deposited
on the metal parts. The methods of operations of
both mechanical plating and mechanical galvaniz-
ing are similar, the essential differences being in the
quantity of zinc powder and the quantity and type
of promoter chemicals added. Mechanically galva-
nized parts are normally cured or baked at 120 °C
for 15 minutes after galvanizing.
The primary reason for less embrittlement problem
in mechanical plating is related to the way in which
the hydrogen is produced, absorbed, occluded and
diffused compared with the mechanism involved in
electroplating of the same metal on a similar sub-
strate. During mechanical coating, a small amount
of hydrogen gas is evolved primarily from the reac-
tion between the acid present and the zinc powder
to be plated:
Znmetal + 2H+ = H2 + Zn2+
with slight solution of zinc. The reaction occurs
essentially on the surface of the powdered-zinc
particles at a relatively slower rate and within a
much more porous, less oriented zinc deposit than
conventional electroplating. Mechanical plating
with its somewhat porous coating permits rapid and
spontaneous outgassing. Consequently, there is a
less of a tendency for hydrogen to be trapped under
the zinc particles in the coating, or in any pores
in the basic part. Instead, any hydrogen produced
tends to migrate away from the surface rather than
diffusing into the base metal. Thus the tendency
for the hydrogen gas to be occluded or entrapped
within the cold welded zinc particles is very small
even with coatings as thick as 70 to 80 µm. Also,
any chemical treatment of parts prior to the coating
operation as in electroplating, is less likely to intro-
duce any HE problems on high tensile steels.
2.5 Process sequence
Parts to be plated are weighed first before introduc-
ing into the plating barrel. The surface area of the
parts is calculated so that the results can be used
to determine the amount of additives needed for
each run.
A general process cycle for mechanical plating
involves
– soil and/or scale removal,
– surface preparation,
– addition of promoters and
– application of metal powder.
Plating is carried out at 15 to 320 °C and requires
anything upwards from three to eight additions of
zinc, depending on the total surface area of the parts
to be plated. Typically a 600 litre barrel can handle
around 900 kg of 2.5 cm (one-inch) long steel
fasteners or 800 kg of common nails. The metal
parts are mixed with approximately 900 kg of glass
beads of mixed sizes. These are added with water
and zinc powder to form a slurry.
A typical sequence of operations for the application
of 8 to 12 µm zinc deposit over a steel substrate will
be as follows:
– weigh and load parts into barrel with media and
a little water,
– start and adjust barrel rotation until uniform
tumbling action is achieved,
– adjust water level until a small reservoir runs in
front of tumbling parts and media,
– add cleaner chemistry, giving sufficient time for
the parts to be totally free of scale – it takes about
3 to 10 minutes,
 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
– add copper chemistry to allow a bright uniform
copper finish on all parts, taking 3 to 5 minutes,
– add promoter/accelerator and allow about 1 min-
ute for through mixing throughout the barrel,
– add zinc metal powder for flash coating when the
surface changes from copper to a uniform silver
finish – this occurs in 3 to 5 minutes,
– add the total amount of zinc powder required in
increments, leaving enough time between addi-
tions so that most of the previous zinc added has
been deposited,
– water polish if a brighter finish is required which
will, however, never match the fully bright
appearance of an electrodeposited surface,
– unload the barrel.
The total process time could be up to about 100
minutes depending upon the metal thickness
required and the weight and geometry of the parts.
Typical plating rates are:
– 5 to 7.5 µm 25 to 30 minutes;
– 12.5 µm 35 minutes;
– 50 µm 60 minutes.
As can be seen, the economics of time for thin coat-
ings is not too desirable for adopting mechanical
plating; however, for thicker coatings the plating
time becomes more advantageous. For thicker
coating (25 to 50 µm), the process is carried out
in increments of 20 minutes [8]. For example, a
coating of 50 µm requires three additions of metal
powder at 20 minutes intervals and a final burnish
of 25 minutes.
Once the plating cycle is complete, the contents
of the plating barrel are discharged into a surge
hopper/feeder whose capacity is large enough to
receive the entire load within a short period of
time (about 2 to 5 minutes). In this way the plat-
ing barrel becomes free to receive another load
of impact media and parts for the next production
batch, while the previous load is being separated
in the hopper. Separation of the coated parts from
the impact (glass) beads is accomplished with a
vibrating screen separator, a magnetic belt, or a
combination of both along with water sprays. Upon
separation of the finished parts, the media of glass
beads and slurry is diverted to a sump from where it
is transferred, normally by a pneumatic pump, to an
141
overhead reservoir for reuse in the next coating run.
In the meantime, the coated parts once separated
from the impact media, can be dried or subjected
to surface treatment such as chromate passivation,
painting or subject lacquering etc followed by
drying in spin or horizontal dryer. For heavier gal-
vanizing thickness on nails, the chromating stage is
not generally used.
With regard to the waste treatment, the chemicals
used in mechanical coating besides being non-toxic
and free of both cyanide and heavy metal chelating
compounds, are essentially consumed in the finish-
ing process. A high process efficiency of over 90 %
associated with mechanical plating, means that
only small zinc levels are present in wastewater,
resulting in easier waste treatment at low cost.
When it is necessary to treat the effluent, the liquid
is collected at the end of the plating cycle. A simple
pH adjustment to 9.4 with addition of an alkali such
as caustic soda or soda and a dosage of polyelectro-
lyte for effective flocculation will assist to remove
heavy metals as hydroxide precipitates. The liquid
is then decanted and acidified to a pH say 7.0 for
subsequent use or disposal. The relatively easier
treatment of mechanical plating wastes compared
with many other finishing waste streams has some-
what regenerated interest in the technique in some
parts of the metal finishing industry.
2.6 Cost
The equipment cost for mechanical plating/gal-
vanizing installation is about 25 to 35 % of a similar
capacity electroplating installation. The processing
cost can be expected to be further reduced in com-
parison with the electroplating process because of
comparatively little energy being used, application
of non-toxic chemistry, no requirement for any spe-
cial jigging or anode configuration and elimination
of baking process for de-embrittlement i.e. relief
treatment for the absorbed hydrogen. However,
the total cost of mechanical plating is generally
agreed to be about 2 to 3 times that of bright barrel
zinc electroplating for plating up to thickness of
about 10 to 15 µm. The relative cost reduces with
increasing thickness by mechanical plating because
heavier deposit can be obtained by adding extra
amount of zinc dust rather than being a function of
142 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
time as in electroplating. Based on a comparative
cost analysis, Figure 1 suggests that mechanical
method is likely to be more cost-effective at a
thickness < 15 µm.
Apparently, about 55 to 65 % of the total expense of
mechanical plating is considered to be related to the
cost of the surface preparation and promoter chemi-
cals, so that any price cut in proprietary chemicals
can have a significant effect on the overall process-
ing cost. Similar trend in cost comparison is also
illustrated in ASM Handbook [9], which includes
cost of chemicals only, and not the labour or over-
head costs. The factors which would influence the
choice of mechanical plating over electroplating are
primarily associated with the elimination of cost of
heat treatment for hydrogen de-embrittlement and
the relatively less expensive treatment of waste
water (effluent).
Fig. 1: Cost comparison of mechanical and electro-
plating [10]
3 Deposit properties
The deposits from mechanical coating exhibit a
medium-bright, textured appearance and do not
have the same visual appeal of mirror-bright surface
achieved by electroplating. The coating is much
smoother and more uniform than that produced
by hot-dip galvanizing. The thickness of coating
is independent of plating time and is controlled
by the amount of zinc powder used per load. As a
result, heavy deposits can be plated in roughly the
same time as thin ones. Thickness uniformity from
part to part generally falls within 20 % and can be
controlled with the choice of promoter chemicals.
Mechanically deposited coatings are generally
found to be thicker on flat or rounded areas and
somewhat thinner on projections and sharp edges.
Holes, grooves and recesses (areas of low cur-
rent density in electroplating) normally receive
adequate coverage by mechanical coating.
The morphology or structure of the coating is quite
different from that produced by hot-dip or electro-
lytic techniques. The finish consists of discrete,
swaged, cold-welded particles laminated together
to form a continuous coating. This flat plate-like
structure is desirable because it makes the coating
less or not at all susceptible to the direct perpendic-
ular cracks that can arise with severe deformation
in electroplating or hot dip galvanizing. However,
since the coating is essentially pure zinc, it dose not
have the same hardness and resistance to abrasion
as is the case with hot dip galvanized or sherardized
coatings with their hard iron/zinc alloy layers
Post treatments of mechanical plating are similar to
those used in electroplating. Most fastener applica-
tions require chromate conversion coatings of clear,
yellow or occasionally olive drab to control corro-
sion properties.
Outdoor studies have shown that mechanically
plated zinc coatings impart essentially the same
degree of corrosion resistance as those produced by
electroplating or hot - dip galvanizing for equiva-
lent thickness and quite often is improved because
of better uniformity. Post plating treatments such as
chromate conversion coatings can be applied. The
performance of mechanical plating against corro-
sion protection can be specifically tailored to vari-
ous thicknesses to suit the end-user requirements.
Data on neutral salt spray (NSS) tests are available
on various thicknesses.
A comparative graph on corrosion resistance is
shown in Figure 2 [10] which details various fin-
ishes lasting from 70 to over 400 hours until red
rust is visible. It is worth mentioning that produc-
ers of nails tend not to passivate, but rely on high
thicknesses (40 to 50 µm). For torque properties,
the deposits require the application of a post dip dry
film lubricant.
 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
Fig. 2: Red corrosion of mechanical coating of zinc on steel, measured by
neutral salt spray test (NSS) [10]
4 Process characteristics
Mechanical plating is essentially a batch process
for the bulk coating of small parts which are liable
to suffer from HE on electroplating. One important
benefit of the technique is to provide confidence
in processing safety critical, hardened steel parts.
However, potential condition for embrittlement can
exist in the pre-coating cleaning cycle. It is thus
recommended that an adequately inhibited acid
pickling solution should be used for the prepara-
tion of parts. For parts with heavy scales, alkaline
derusting, molten salt bath or mechanical descaling
processes should be used to minimize/eliminate
embrittlement from the pickling cycle.
Unlike electroplating where variation in deposit
thickness can occur due to poor throwing power,
uniform distribution of metal coating is an advan-
tage inherent in mechanical plating due to the
kinetics involved between the impact media, zinc
dust and the work. Parts with holes and recesses
that are difficult to electroplate to the desired thick-
ness usually can be properly plated via mechanical
plating The deposit will be of uniform thickness on
all areas in contact with glass bead media leaving
no build-up on edges of parts, provided a correct
amount of zinc dust and promoter chemicals have
been used. As a result, all plated parts besides being
able to consistently fit better, this advantage of the
process also translates into improvements in corro-
sion resistance. Mechanical coating with uniform
thickness up to 75 µm can be used as a satisfactory
143
alternative to the conventional hot dip galvanizing
which produces non-uniform coatings on threaded
fasteners causing poor thread fit and hence high
reject rates with extra work requiring re-sizing after
processing.
The process uses relatively simple non-toxic
chemistry, which is consumed during each proc-
ess cycle. Modern proprietary chemistry does not
use complexing agents. High process efficiency of
over 90 % means that only small zinc levels are
present in wastewater. This factor along with the
fact that water consumption is far less than during
electroplating, result in easier waste treatment at
reduced costs.
Thus mechanical plating avoids the need for hydro-
gen relief treatment, produces consistent deposit
thickness and uses non-toxic chemistry. High
tensile steels can be plated with the confidence of
ensuring that the product liability is not compro-
mised by HE. It provides short to medium term
environmental protection. The size and shape of
components determine their suitability for mechan-
ical plating. Significant strides have been made
toward coating larger and heavier parts, namely up
to about 900 kg and using threaded rods in excess
of 90 cm long. Furthermore, there is no direct use
of electrical energy involved in the process. The
only consumption of electricity is in driving the
barrel, vibratory hopper, separator and drier. Since
there is no need for rectification of current as is the
case with electroplating, the electrical consumption
144 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
in mechanical plating is about 5 % that of conven-
tional zinc electroplating.
Another advantage of mechanical plating over
electroplating is its ability to plate sintered prod-
ucts without prior sealing of their surfaces. In
electroplating, the pores in any powder metallurgy
products would trap hazardous chemical solutions
during plating, and thereby ruining the finish with
ultimate premature corrosion. Thus it becomes
essential to seal the pores prior to electroplating.
This is normally accomplished by impregnating
the sintered products with resins, plastics or wax.
However, no such costly sealing pre-treatment is
necessary for mechanical plating where the solu-
tions are generally chemically consumed, leaving
little excess being available to be entrapped in
the pores of the substrate. The initial galvanically
deposited copper strike will permeate such pores,
and the metal will fill and bridge them. Thus as long
as the sintered parts are oil-free and of sufficient
density to stand up to any crumbling effect from the
tumbling action of the rotating barrel, mechanical
plating will be a better process.
There are, however, several limitations of the
mechanical plating process including the fact that
the coating being pure zinc does not have the hard-
ness and resistance to abrasion similar to the hot dip
galvanized or sherardized coatings with their hard
iron/zinc alloy layers.
The cost of mechanical plating turns out to be about
2 to 3 times that of bright barrel zinc electroplating
for the same normal plating thickness up to about
10 µm. However, above 10 to 15 µm thickness, the
process becomes economically attractive because
of greater thickness being attained with only
slightly longer additional times compared with the
electroplating method where thickness is directly
proportional to the plating time.
Mechanical plating besides being a noisy process
provides a dull, matte finish compared with the
bright finish of electroplated components because
of the dust or powder form in which metals are
deposited. For this reason, mechanical plating is
considered to be functional rather than decora-
tive. For a routine work where the same fastener is
being processed every day, the correct amount of
cleaner, copper flash chemical, zinc powder, glass
beads, water and promoter chemicals to be added
to each load once established, would not alter. Thus
the line operator does not have to make critical
decisions for every batch, as is the case with barrel
electroplating.
However, unlike electroplating, chemical additions
can change with each load in a diversified operation
when new calculations on the surface area of the
work being processed become critical. The prob-
able causes of various faults in mechanical plating,
namely lack/no plating, non-uniform coating, thin-
ner coatings than expected, poorly adherent coat-
ings, or deeply scratched coatings, are presented
along with the corresponding corrective actions in
the Guidebook and Directory issue [11]. The main
causes of non-uniform appearance include:
– use of glass media in poor condition,
– insufficient cleaning of parts prior to plating,
– insufficient burnishing time at the end of the
plating cycle,
– wet parts kept too long in the surge hopper or
– zinc added to the cycle too quickly or in incor-
rect amounts.
5 Application
The mechanical plating technique is useful for bulk
coating of small parts which typically include high
strength fasteners (bolts, nuts, and screws), wash-
ers, springs and spring clips, steel stampings, fit-
tings, nails and many other safety critical products
supplied to a diverse market such as automotive,
aerospace and construction industries. The elimi-
nation of hydrogen embrittlement, hence product
reliability is the prime attraction of the process.
Mechanical plating and mechanical galvanizing
are rapidly becoming the finish of choice for nail
manufacturers around the world. Mechanically gal-
vanized fasteners are being utilized increasingly by
the road maintenance and construction industries.
The size and shape of parts determine their suit-
ability for mechanical plating or galvanizing.
Generally, the process is for parts with dimension
no greater than about 30 cm and weighing less than
1 kg. However, threaded rods in excess of 90 cm
long can be handled, but cost considerations do
become a factor since larger the parts to be coated,
 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
the fewer becomes the number of loads possible.
Various substrates that are suitable for the proc-
ess include high-carbon heat-treated spring steels,
case-hardened steel, leaded steel, high strength low
alloy steel, low-carbon steel, malleable iron and
sintered steel.
References
[1] BS 1706, 1990
[2] US Patent 2,640,001, 1953
[3] E. T. Clayton, U.S. Patent 2,689,808: 1954
[4] E. T. Clayton, U.S. Patent 3,023,127: 1962
[5] Clayton & Colleagues Inc., US Patent 4,849,258: 1989
[6] Dow Iron Powder Co., US Patent 4,655,832: 1987
[7] Macdermid Inc., U.S. Patent 4,868,066: 1989
[8] S. G. Simon, U.S. Patent 3,268,356: 1966
[9] A. Satow: Mechanical Plating, in ASM Handbook Series, Vol. 5,
Surface Engineering, pp 330-332, ASM Materials Park, Ohio, 1994
[10] P. Wynn; Prod. Fin. 54 (4) 5, 2001
[11] Metal Finishing, 2002
Appendix – Basic mechanism of the deleterious effect of hydrogen in steel
Hydrogen embrittlement occurs due to chemical
ingress or absorption of hydrogen atoms into the
crystal lattice of steel substrate during eletrodeposi-
tion. Formation of atomic hydrogen could occur in
any metal finishing operations, which uses water,
namely cleaning, pickling and, of course, electro-
plating. An electrochemical reduction reaction, no
matter how small and incidental it might be, could
generate atomic hydrogen (H*) which may eventu-
ally lead to the formation of molecular hydrogen (H2)
if the lifetime of the atomic hydrogen is too short to
survive under a particular processing condition:
2H+ + 2e- → 2H* ® H2 In quantitative studies of HE, it has been found
It is only the atomic hydrogen evolved at the
cathode surface, which is capable of diffusing into
the crystal lattice of steel substrate. The molecular
hydrogen, on the other hand, once formed from
combination of two hydrogen atoms, is incapable
of diffusion into the metal and will leave the metal
surface as gas bubbles.
The hydrogen atoms once absorbed tend to migrate
through the crystal lattice of the substrate to accu-
mulate and get entrapped at high stress points at
microvoids and grain boundaries. Internal pressure
of hydrogen from these sites can lower the tolerance
of components to the applied external stress/load,
resulting in catastrophic failures. For any amount of
145
General references
H. Geduld: Zinc Plating; Finishing Publ., Stevenage, Hert., 1988
G. M. Allison, in Guidebook and Directory Issue, Metal Finishing, pp.
384-393, Vol. 100, New York, 2002
H. Thrasher; Products Finishing Directory, p. 204, 1986
H, Thrasher; Plating and Surf. Finish., 74 (2) 24, 1987
R. Holford; Met. Fin. 87 (7) 33, 1989
F. C. Porter; Trans IMF 66(2) Part - 1, 28, 1988
L. Coch; Prod. Fin., pp. 2-8, 1987
J. Timms; Trans IMF 76 (1), B 10, 1998
P. McKenna; Prod. Fin., March, 56, 1993
S. Davis; Prod. Fin., July, 90, 1989
R. Sundaresan, F. H. Froes; J. Metals, August, 22, 1987
G. A. DiBari; Plating and Surf. Finish. 74 (12) 44, 1987
P. Wynn; Prod. Fin. 54 (3) 7, 2001
Rohco Inc. McGean, U.S. Patent 4,880,132: 1989
G. P. Beardsley; Plating, July, 711, 1970
Proceedings AESF SUR/FIN, 1984
Proceedings AESF SUR/FIN, 1982
entrapped hydrogen atoms, the hydrogen pressure
would spread much more uniformly throughout
the lattice of low- rather than high-tensile steels
because of greater percentage of voids in the metal
lattice of a low tensile steel. In contrast, a very
high pressure of hydrogen is expected to develop
in high-tensile steels because of much smaller per-
centages of microvoids as well as greater number
of grain boundaries and dislocation defect sites in
them which will facilitate to trap more hydrogen,
making such steels quite susceptible to HE than the
low tensile steels.
that it does not take much hydrogen to make a part
brittle. The risk of embrittlement is also likely to be
greater with an electroplating process which uses
an electrolyte with poor cathode current efficiency
such as the alkaline zinc plating bath compared
with near 100 % efficiency of acid zinc electro-
lyte, generating more hydrogen gas at the cathode
surface with more chances of forming and hence
diffusion of atomic hydrogen into the crystal lattice
of the steel substrate. In fact, an amount as low as
8 ppm hydrogen absorbed in steel during alkaline
barrel zinc plating has been reported to cause a
number of failures whose root cause is likely to be
due to HE resulting from high internal pressure of
146 Chatterjee: Mechanical Plating
hydrogen at stressed areas. A simple calculation
assuming microvoids trapping all the absorbed
atomic hydrogen, showed that the internal pressure
arising from 8 ppm hydrogen entrapped in 0.01 %
microvoids could be as high as 104,000 psi or
717 MPa. The pressure would, of course, increase
further with decreasing percentage of microvoids,
namely an increase in pressure by an order of mag-
nitude at 0.001 % microvoids. Thus electroplated
components of high-tensile steel containing a very
small percentage of microvoids, is likely to develop
hydrogen pressure high enough to cause hairline
cracks with ultimate failure in service.
In fact, it is recommended according to BS 1706 :
1990 that all steels with strength greater than 1050
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MPa and hardness more than 34 Rc could run a risk
of failure from HE on electroplating.
It is stipulated that all zinc- plated components of
high-tensile steels should be heat treated prior to
final finishing with chromate conversion (passiva-
tion) coating in order to remove most if not all of
absorbed hydrogen. Generally, heat treatment for
HE relief is recommended to be carried out around
200 °C for a certain period of time depending upon
the strength of the electroplated steel used.
References
D. R. Gabe; Trans IMF 79 (5) B 78, 2001
J. A. Zehnder; Plating and Surf. Fin. 62 (9) 862, 1975
N. V. Mandich, G. A. Krulik; Met. Fin. 91 (3) 54, 1993
BS 1706 : 1990