Maui
Materials
- Mar 5, 2003
- 1,939
We have a carburizing line in our industrial heat treating operation, and are processing typical carburizing grades such as AISI 8620 and 9310. As a part of this process, we use a copper plating bath to selectively apply a thin copper layer as a stop off to prevent certain areas on these parts from absorbing carbon during the carburizing process. After carburizing is completed, we would normally use a chromic acid bath solution to strip the copper from the 8620 parts, but due to increasing regulations and associated costs we have decided to discontinue use of the chromic acid altogether.
We need to identify an alternative stripping method that can be used for reliably removing copper plating from these 8620 parts without etching the base material. I am aware of a few ways to do this, but would like your opinions to help identify the best method for our operation. The preference would be for a method that provides the most reliable service without causing substantial maintenance issues or health hazards (such as chromic and and cynaide salts can). I believe that an electrochemical process would probably be the best approach in this regard, but which one? Please let me know what methods you have used, and with what level of success. What are your thoughts?
Maui
We need to identify an alternative stripping method that can be used for reliably removing copper plating from these 8620 parts without etching the base material. I am aware of a few ways to do this, but would like your opinions to help identify the best method for our operation. The preference would be for a method that provides the most reliable service without causing substantial maintenance issues or health hazards (such as chromic and and cynaide salts can). I believe that an electrochemical process would probably be the best approach in this regard, but which one? Please let me know what methods you have used, and with what level of success. What are your thoughts?
Maui
