Corrosion of Chrome Plated Parts

Effect of Micro-cracks on Corrosion Resistance

 Due to the micro-cracks in hard Chrome deposits, corrosion generally is

due to porosity of the protective Chrome layer
Corrosive
Media

Cr
Deposit

Corrosion
Base
Material

 If cracks are big enough and long then they can allow corrosion of the base
material very quickly leading to low corrosion resistance

Improved corrosion resistance means reducing the chance of

corrosive media from reaching the base material
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Corrosion of Chrome Plated Parts
Micro-crack Formation During Plating

Microcrack
Macrocrack
Cr Deposit

Base
Material

Cracks form due to stress in the Chrome deposit. These cracks are
then, generally plated over and become micro-cracks.
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Corrosion of Chrome Plated Parts
Micro-crack Structure and Effect on Resistance

Corrosive
Media

Cr
Deposit

Corrosion
Base Material

If many, fine micro-cracks are formed then corrosion

resistance is usually improved
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 Corrosion of Chrome Plated Parts
General demand corrosion resistance – VW TL 215 (example)

 Higher corrosion resistance is already requested

 Todays standard is 96 hours NSS and more
 160–250 hours NSS rating 9–10 today not untypical

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Influences on Corrosion Resistance of
Chrome Plated Parts
 Corrosion resistance of a chrome plated part depends on a myriad
of different influences
‒ From the base material itself, to how it is treated
‒ The chrome plating process itself
‒ The final post-treatment

 Each of these influences can be considered a link in a chain

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 Influences on Corrosion Resistance of
Chrome Plated Parts
 If only one link is weak then the whole chain is weak, this instance
would result in low corrosion resistance of the chrome plated part

To ensure best deposit characteristics, especially for corrosion

resistance, optimal conditions are required in all areas of the process.
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Overview of Main Influences on Corrosion
Resistance of Chrome Plated Parts

Pre- Post-
Plating
Treatment Treatment

Base Material Cleaning/

Heat Treatment
Degreasing
Hardening Etching Grinding

Grinding Plating Process Polishing

Demagnetization Plating Parameters Paste Polishing

Deposit
Passivation
Characteristics

Micro cracks

Multilayer Systems

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment

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General Metal Finishing
 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Key areas

 Base Material - quality

 Welding in case of hollow shock absorber rods
 Hardening
 Straightening in case of hollow shock absorber rods
 Grinding

 Demagnetizing

After pre-treatment we should ideally have a part made from a

high quality base material that has been treated so that it has a
uniform and homogeneous surface free of defects and fully
prepared for the next process step, the Chrome plating.
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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Base material - quality

An ideal base material should be formed from high quality raw materials,
have a uniform and homogeneous composition free from inclusions.

 Free of inclusions
 Homogenous hardening depth
 Homogenous roughness with below Ra 0.08 µm
 Sliver free surface after grinding
 Non-magnetic surface

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Base material quality - inclusions

 Inclusions generally have a local effect on the pre-treatment and

plating processes that can result in different plating deposit
characteristics and are critical for corrosion resistance
 Typical issues are seen with inclusions and surface property variations
due to case hardening.

 Physical inclusions can be hard particles

 Pits formed by mechanical means

Rust Spot on
Surface

SEM of
Rust Spot
CS of base material defect

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Hardening

The hardness of steel is related to the increase of its mechanical

durability by deliberate change and transformation of its structure.

Hardening process
 Case Hardening
‒ Process for increasing the Carbon content in the surface of a part to
increase its hardness

 Induction hardening
‒ Provides a similar surface treatment regime to flame hardening

Due to various process methods available it is possible that the hardening

is not equal over the entire part. Harder and softer areas react differently
when reverse etched

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Hardening

Good NSST – 4% variance

Bad NSST – 24% variance in depth and 50% thinner than above

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding

Pre-grinding is normally performed to shape a piece of metal to the final

tolerances, sizes etc… for the part’s eventual use as well as to prepare
it for the next process step

 Sometimes parameters chosen for pre-grinding are more suitable for

high productivity

 The usual method for pre-grinding is with the use of grinding stones,
wheels or belts

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding

Abrasive Machining
 Material removal by action of hard, abrasive particles usually in form
of a bonded wheel
‒ Generally used as finishing operations after part geometry has been
established by conventional machining
‒ Grinding is most important abrasive process
‒ Other abrasive processes: Honing, Lapping, Superfinishing, Polishing and
Buffing

Why are Abrasive Processes important???

 Can be used on all types of materials

 Some can produce extremely fine surface finishes down to
0.025 m (1 -in)
 Some can hold dimensions to extremely close tolerances

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding

 Material removal process in which abrasive particles are contained in

a bonded grinding wheel that operates at very high surface speeds

 Grinding wheel usually disk-shaped and precisely balanced for high

rotational speeds

Cylindrical Grinding Center-less Grinding

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding
Grain size
 Smaller grit sizes produce better finishes
 Larger grit sizes permit larger material removal rates
 Harder work materials require smaller grain sizes to cut effectively
 Softer materials require larger grit sizes

Surface Finish
 Most grinding is performed to achieve good surface finish
 Best surface finish is achieved by:
‒ Small grain sizes
‒ Higher wheel speeds
‒ Denser wheel structure = more grits per wheel area

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding temperature and cooling

 Due to friction at grinding and development of shavings heat is

generated
 Without cooling temperatures of >1,000°C can easily occur at the
edges of the part

 It may be particularly in hardened and remunerated materials come

to a change in structure  soft skin
 Beside the softening it can also give a new hardening if the highest
temperature is about the transformation temperature to austenite.

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding temperature and cooling

 The warming of the boundary zone as well as often too rapid cooling
are causes for grinding defects like measure aberrance, cracks,
tensions or burning stains

Sparks while
grinding

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding temperature and cooling

Effect of Burning on Internal Stress on Surface of Plated Part

Tensile

Excessive ‘Burning’
(possibly with new hardened zone)

Hidden ‘Burning’
(Result after final finishing)
Internal Stress

Measurement Depth

No ‘Burning’, after grinding

Compressive

No ‘Burning’, peened surface

(e.g. shot blasting)

Burn Marks after Over-Aggressive Grinding

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding temperature and cooling

How to Reduce Grinding Temperatures

 Decrease in feed (depth of cut) d
 Reduce wheel speed v
 Reduce number of active grits per square inch on the grinding
wheel C
 Increase work speed vw
 Use a grinding fluid

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding coolant

 Most important consumable in the grinding

process

 Has the same importance as the grinding

stone

 Heavily relying on mechanical removal,

there is almost no chemical process involved

 Not only playing the role of bringing down the instant surface
temperature between grinding stone and the grinded substance, it
also acts as lubricant for the grinding process

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding coolant

 A good grinding coolant should have below abilities:

‒ Cooling ability

‒ Lubricating effect

‒ Grinding stone cleaning ability

‒ Process handling

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding

Picture – Badly Ground Base Material

The pre-grinding step should result in a smooth surface with no or only small
slivers. Any defects should be small enough to be easily removed in the
subsequent cleaning and etching processes.

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Roughness
 The roughness of a surface can be measured with typical values
like Ra, Rz and Rt quoted.
‒ Ra = Mean average roughness
‒ Rz = Average peak to valley height (average Rt)
‒ Rt = Maximum peak to valley height
Different Surfaces with the same Ra values

As can be seen from the above diagram, care has to be taken when using
certain roughness measurements as all of the above completely different
surface profiles have the exact same Ra value.
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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Surface Roughness Requirements

Roughness of Base Material Before Plating

Minimum Targets Good Values

Ra < 0.15 µm 0.08 µm
Rz < 1.5 µm 1.0 µm

Roughness of Plated Rods After Post-treatment

Minimum Targets
Ra < 0.1 µm
Rz < 1.0 µm

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Influence of Base Material Roughness on Corrosion Resistance

Plating
10
Plating
25 – 27 µm
Thickness
Rz < 0.95 µm Chromium with
Plating Bath
Organic Catalyst
Corrosion rate

8
Testing
Rz > 1.20 µm Test
ISO 1462
Procedure
6 ISO 9227
Test Method Acetic Acid Salt
Spray Test

24 48 72 96 h

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Mechanical Pre-treatment
Roughness

Picture – Different Grinding Finishes on the Same Steel Material

Ra = 0.15 µm Ra = 0.05 µm

Typical roughness values for the more demanding requirements of the

industry today are <0.05 to 0.08 µm

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding - Slivers
 Slivers can be generated during the grinding process

Abrasive Grain
Chip
Build-up

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Plating failure due to slivers

Post-Grinding

Nodule formation due to sliver

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Grinding - scratches / valleys

 The scratch left a ‘valley’ in the base material surface

 That was not ‘leveled’ during Chrome plating so a valley was found in
the Chrome layer

 This valley was untreated during the final post-finishing process

 Because of the type of post-finishing used, the valley was not ‘finished

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Demagnetization

 Due to the machining of the parts before plating, in some cases a

rest magnetism is possible
 Demagnetization helps to remove Iron particles from the surface
 Prevents that iron particles enter the chromium plating bath where
they can be co-deposited
 When chrome is plated horizontally particles which settle on the
surface can lead to trouble

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Principle Demagnetization Techniques

 Use a reducing magnetic field on a stationary part

 Move a strong permanent magnet along the part while simultaneously
rotating it
 Heat the (steel) part to > 800 ºC (over the Curie point) to transform the
microstructure. (This can result in worsening the physical properties of
the part though).

Demagnetization by:
Magnetization
Opposed field
in magnetic field
Disruption

Heat

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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Principle Demagnetization Techniques

 Move the part at a constant speed through a strong alternating

magnetic field

source: www.maurermagnetic.ch
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 Mechanical Pre-treatment
Summary

An ideal base material should be formed from high quality raw materials,
have a uniform and homogeneous composition free from any defects..

 Base materials can vary significantly due to requirements of

the end-user for the mechanical and physical characteristics
required from their parts
 Different base materials may be used as well as different
hardness or hardening depths
 It is necessary to know the hardness or hardening treatment
of the part to be able to correctly tailor the following chemical
pre-treatment steps before Chrome plating.

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Overview of Main Influences on Corrosion
Resistance of Chrome Plated Parts

Pre- Post-
Plating
Treatment Treatment

Base Material Cleaning/

Heat Treatment
Degreasing
Hardening Etching Grinding

Grinding Plating Process Polishing

Demagnetization Plating Parameters Paste Polishing

Deposit
Passivation
Characteristics

Micro cracks

Multilayer Systems

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 Plating

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General Metal Finishing