Post Plating Bake Delay -- Hydrogen Embrittlement 1

[metalman8357]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with how much of an effect the delay time between electroplating and baking of hardened components has on hydrogen embrittlement? We have very expensive and critical components that we are electroplating on top of a carburized surface and we wan't to get an idea for how long this window is before irreversible damage takes place. It's possible that one of our vendors has gone over the safe window time and I wanted to see if there were any studies in the literature that characterized this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[CoryPad]

The delay time can have a huge effect on hydrogen embrittlement. According to SAE/USCAR-5 Avoidance of Hydrogen Embrittlement:

The electroplated parts (see following table) shall be baked at a part core temperature of 200 °C minimum. The 200 °C
core temperature shall be reached within 2 hours after completion of the electroplating process. No part shall take longer
than 2 hours between receiving its plating layer and it attaining a core temperature of 200 °C.

It is very important to have the delay time as short as possible.