Surface Finishing Tutorial

#320 Decorative Electroplating on Plastics-1

Category : Electroplating

December 1, 2017

Apply the base-coat plating comprised of nickel or copper-nickel over plastics, and then apply the decorative plating comprised of chromium, gold, silver, tin-cobalt alloy, tin-nickel alloy, tin-nickel-copper alloy, and so on.

(1)Grades, symbols, and minimum thickness of decorative plating

[Table 1] Grades, symbols, and minimum thickness of plating

Grade	Plating material composition and minimum thickness				Reference
	Base-coat	Minimum plating thickness (µm)	Top-coat	Minimum plating thickness (µm)	Operating environment
Grade 1	Ni d､ Ni t	20	Cr mp､ Cr mc	0.1	A: Highly corrosive outdoor environment (coastal areas and industrial zones)
Grade 2	Ni d､ Ni t	20	Cr r	0.1	B: Normal outdoor environment (rural zones and residential areas)
			Sn-Co alloy Sn-Ni alloy	-
	Ni b､Ni s､ Ni d､ Ni t	15	Cr mp､ Cr mc	0.1
Grade 3	Ni b､ Ni s Ni v､ Ni n Ni d､ Ni t	10	Cr r	0.1	C: Highly humid indoor environment (bathrooms and kitchens)
			Au､Ag	-
			Sn-Co alloy Sn-Ni alloy Sn-Ni-Zn alloy Sn-Ni-Co alloy
Grade 4	Ni b､ Ni s Ni v､ Ni n	5	Cr r	0.1	D: Normal indoor environment (inside of houses and offices)
			Au､ Ag	-
			Sn-Co alloy Sn-Ni alloy Sn-Cu-Zn alloy Sn-Ni-Co alloy

(2)Plating categories, types, and symbols

[Table 2] Plating categories, types, and symbols

Plating category	Symbol	Plating type	Symbol
Copper plating	Cu	-	-
Nickel plating	Ni	Bright nickel plating	b
		Semi-bright nickel plating	s
		Velutinous nickel plating	v
		Non-leveling nickel plating	n
		Duplex nickel plating	d
		Three-layer nickel plating	t
Chrome plating	Cr	Regular chrome plating	r
		Microporous chromium plating	mp
		Microcracked chromium plating	mc
Gold plating	Au	-	-
Silver plating	Ag	-	-
Tin-cobalt alloy plating Tin-nickel alloy plating Tin-copper-zinc alloy plating Tin-nickel-copper alloy plating	Sn-Co Sn-Ni Sn-Cu-Zn Sn-Ni-Cu	-	-

« PREV

Please visit your Regional MISUMI website for additional information or to request our latest catalog.

Empowering engineers around the world with an extensive product line of over 1 million products. Plus the tools & tutorials based on 40 years of engineering knowledge.

This site is maintained by MISUMI Corporation.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited by all applicable laws and is subject to criminal prosecution.