Changing the way metal looks is possible with metal surface treatment.
To improve the look, feel, and performance of metal products, their surfaces often need to be treated in certain ways. "Surface treatment" is a technical term for using physical or chemical methods to add a protective or functional layer to the surface of metal materials. This makes the metal materials have special qualities.
The Nine Most Important Things to Do to Take Care of Metal Surfaces
▲ The Science Behind Anodizing
Anodizing is a process that uses chemicals and electricity to cover the surface of aluminum and aluminum alloys with a thin layer of aluminum oxide. This film not only protects the item, but it also makes it look better, keeps electricity from getting through it, and makes it last longer. There are different ways to implement color effects, like monochromatic, gradient, or two-tone, that use different process flows. Also, to get the best results from anodizing, you need to keep an eye on the temperature, the amount of oxidizing agents, and the current density.
▲ Electrophoresis technology
Electrophoresis not only keeps metal surfaces shiny, but it also improves their surface properties, making them very resistant to rust. This method lets you finish the surfaces of stainless steel and aluminum alloys in a lot of bright colors. There are only three main steps in the process: pre-treatment, electrophoresis, and drying.
▲ Technology for Micro-Arc Oxidation
Micro-arc oxidation is a way to make a coating that looks like ceramic by using high-voltage electricity and an electrolyte solution. This technology costs a lot of money because it needs a lot of energy to work. This technology can only make black and gray effects at the moment.
▲ Technology for PVD vacuum coating
You can make metal and ceramic decorative coatings that are very hard and don't wear out easily with PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) vacuum coating technology. The main idea is to use a physical vapor deposition process to put metal or alloy materials on the surface of a substrate. This makes a thin, dense film. Many people use this technology to make metal things stronger and more appealing.
▲ Technology for Electroplating
Electroplating gives things the look and feel of expensive metal. The process uses electrolysis to put a metal film over a base metal. This makes it better in a lot of ways, like being more reflective, looking better, and being less likely to wear out or rust.
▲ Putting on a coat of powder
People often use powder coating to coat the surfaces of heat sinks and architectural furniture. The five main steps in the process are loading the parts, using electrostatics to get rid of dust, spraying, leveling at a low temperature, and baking. This technology uses powder coating tools to coat the surface of the workpiece with powder paint in a smooth way. Electrostatic attraction makes the paint stick to the surface, which is how a powder-based coating is made. When you bake the coating at a high temperature, it turns into a bright and colorful finish.
▲ Treatment with Metal Brushing
The point of metal brushing is to make metal surfaces shine without making them look like a mirror and to fix small problems on the surface. Using rough tools to make fine linear textures on the surface of the metal workpiece is the main way this process makes things look nice.
How to Polish?
Polishing makes a workpiece's size and shape more accurate. Using flexible polishing tools, abrasive particles, and other polishing media to finely polish the surface of the product gives it a shiny, mirror-like finish.
▲ The steps that go into etching
Etching is a process that starts with making plates, exposing them, and developing them to remove a protective film from some parts. This lets a chemical solution get to the metal underneath, which eats away at it to make structural effects like relief (raised or recessed) or cut-out (镂空). There are two main ways to do this: the exposure method and the screen-printing method.
