ELECTROPOLISH on 303 Stainless Steel


Electropolishing is often referred to as a "reverse plating" process. Electrochemical in nature, electropolishing uses a combination of rectified current and a blended chemical electrolyte bath to remove flaws from the surface of a metal part such as removing heat discoloration from spot welds. Two important advantages of electropolishing are the speed and uniformity of the process, readily translated into important savings, particularly when treating complicated shapes.

Once the process is completed, the part is run through a series of cleaning and drying steps to remove clinging electrolyte. The resultant surface is clean and bright. In fact, the bright surface is the most identifiable trait...the one that helped coin the name: Electropolishing.

While the process is best known for the bright polish left on a surface, there are some important, often overlooked benefits of this metal removal method. These benefits include deburring, size control, micro finish improvements and Electropolished stainless steel is better suited to resist the onset of pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, localized galvanic corrosion, stress corrosion cracking and microbiologically influenced corrosion. These metal improvement benefits offer great promise to design and production engineers for cost savings and product improvement.

Electropolishing facilitates sterilization and maintenance of hygienically clean surfaces. Research by the USDA has indicated that electropolishing reduces the buildup of bacterial biofilms.

Electropolishing reduces the appearance of rouging on the inside surfaces of distillation columns, storage vessels, and distribution systems for hot purified water and clean steam.

The most striking benefit of electropolishing is the resulting lustrous surface. Electropolishing is a non-mechanical process. No tools come in contact with the piece so there is no risk of creating directional polishing lines. The material is treated electrochemically, leaving a microscopically smooth surface that is highly lustrous.