There are lots of advantages to zinc and zinc nickel plating, from providing corrosion resistance to protecting against galvanic corrosion in an assembly. It is a relatively low-cost solution and offers a cheaper alternative to zinc alloy plating. Zinc plating is the older of the two processes, but zinc nickel plating is increasingly being used as a superior alternative. Let’s take a look at just some of the advantages of using this type of plating in industry.
Effective Protection
Zinc and zinc nickel plating are the perfect choice for steel substrate coating thanks to the way that the zinc will sacrifice itself in order to offer corrosion protection. Normally, steel substrates won’t even begin to corrode while some of the sacrificial zinc is left. This is the basic reason why zinc and zinc nickel plating are so widely used in a huge array of worldwide industries.
Zinc nickel plating usually offers greater protection than standard zinc plating thanks to its ability to last much longer, offering superior performance. Technological improvements now allow experts such as www.swmf.co.uk/surface-coatings/zinc-nickel-alloy-plating to offer this type of plating at more cost-effective rates than were previously possible.
Zinc nickel plating is also now seen by many as a preferable alternative to the likes of toxic cadmium plating and inferior zinc plating.
Superior Product
Zinc nickel can offer even more corrosion resistance with the addition of topcoats, but offers better protection than standard zinc even without this. It can also perform in a superior way to zinc in the case of higher temperature applications and reduces galvanic potential even when different base metals form part of the same application. Zinc nickel plating is commonly used in components created from stainless steel or carbon steel that also feature aluminium assembly parts, for example.
Difference in Performance
The performance of standard zinc plating is primarily based on its thickness. In contrast, zinc nickel plating’s effectiveness can be determined by both the thickness and the composition ratio of zinc to nickel. This can be measured using X-ray fluorescence.