Electroplating has been widely used in terminal products. Parts such as pins, presses, screws and other parts need to be electroplated to meet their specific functions and lifespan. So what is electroplating? What is the purpose of electroplating ? Let's discuss the knowledge of electroplating from the following aspects, so that we can have a deeper understanding of electroplating.

1. Definition of electroplating

Simply put, electroplating is the process of depositing metal or alloy on the surface of the workpiece by electrolysis under the action of direct current to form a uniform, dense, and good bonding metal surface.

Second, the purpose of electroplating

1. Beautiful (such as gold plating, silver, nickel, etc.)

The metal after plating usually has a brighter appearance than the material.

2. Anti-corrosion (such as nickel, chromium, zinc, etc.)

Usually the raw materials such as copper and iron are easily oxidized in the air, and the corrosion resistance can be improved by plating a layer of metal with strong oxidation resistance.

3. Strong electroplating adhesion (such as copper)

For metals with poor adhesion, copper primer is usually used to enhance adhesion before electroplating.

4. Enhance conductivity (such as gold, silver)

The conductivity of raw materials such as iron and phosphor copper is usually below 20%, which cannot meet the requirements for low-impedance connectors. Therefore, the impedance can be reduced after the surface layer is electroplated with high-conductivity metals such as gold.

5. Improve solderability (such as tin, gold, etc.)

Because the original material has poor adhesion to tin, a certain thickness of tin and other substances on the surface can improve the solderability of the parts.

3. Electroplating method and process flow of terminal products:

1. Common electroplating methods:

a. Continuous plating: drag the plated parts with the connected material into the electroplating tank of the planned process.

Continuous plating equipment

b. Barrel plating: Put the bulk plated parts into the drum, and then put the drum into the plating tank for electroplating.

Barrel plating equipment

C. Hang plating: Hang the plated parts on the hanger, and then put the hanger into the plating tank for electroplating.

Rack plating equipment

 2. General electroplating process:

Regardless of the plating method, the following three processes are available:

a. Pre-treatment: Clean and activate the surface of the substrate to improve plating efficiency and surface adhesion.

b. Electroplating: Electroplating film on the surface of the substrate.

C. Post-processing: remove the electroplating residues and dry them to prevent the coating from mutating and poor quality.

Four, electroplating inspection

1. Appearance inspection: mainly look at the appearance of poor plating, discoloration, peeling of the plating layer, etc.

2. Film thickness test: test instrument X-RAY fluorescent film thickness meter to check whether the actual thickness of the product meets the requirements of the drawing.

3. Adhesion test (adhesion test): test method: bending method (bending test), tape method.

Check whether the adhesion surface of the electroplated layer meets the requirements.

4. Soldering ability test: Generally, the solderability test is only required for the electroplated products of tin-plated or gold-plated products, and the soldering surface is generally required to be above 95%.

5. Anti-corrosion ability test: including salt spray test, nitric acid steam test, H2S steam test, SO2 steam test, water vapor aging test, after the test, the parts must not be oxidized and function