Description / Abstract:
1. Scope--Electroplating is a process whereby an object is coated with
one or more relatively thin, tightly adherent layers of one or more
metals. It is accomplished by placing the object to be coated on a
plating rack or a fixture, or in a basket or in a rotating container in
such a manner that a suitable current may flow through it, and then
immersing it in a series of solutions and rinses in planned sequence.
The advantage to be gained by electroplating may be considerable;
broadly speaking, the process is used when it is desired to endow the
basis material (selected for cost, material conservation, and physical
property reasons) with surface properties it does not possess.
It should be noted that although electroplating is the most widely used
process for applying metals to a substrate, they may also be applied by
spraying, vacuum deposition, cladding, hot dipping, chemical reduction,
mechanical plating, etc. The purpose for applying an electroplate and
the metals used for various applications follow.