The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----

Coating SS with oxidation-passivated film

1998

Hi everybody,

First, I would like to mention that it is my first time to get involved in metal finishing industry. Currently, I am doing a market research for an Asian company looking for companies in N. America capable of doing certain metal surface treatment process. What I knew about this process is that the stainless steel is coated with what is called oxidation-passivated film. This process gives the steel surface golden or silvery final color depending on what is involved (Cr or Ni as I guess). I also know that treatment gives excellent characteristics for the steel and make it suitable to be used in applications where high purity liquids and gases are required and involved (DI water heater, ultrapure water units, ultrafiltration units, semiconductor industry application, clean room, etc). Can anyone help me with the right name of that process and who might be doing it. THANKS

M. Yasser Abdelbadie

---

Those processes would be electropolishing, passivation, and polishing of stainless steel.

Please see our Shops index, and search for companies that perform these services.

  
Tom Pullizzi
Falls Township, Pennsylvania
1998

---

Hi there.

Wecome to one the best informed sites on the web. My company markets electropolish solutions, if you need more info about them.

Mike Horton
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1997

---

Hmmmm, Flattery will get you everywhere. Why don't you come up and see us sometime?

  
Tom Pullizzi
Falls Township, Pennsylvania

---

Dear Sir:

The process you are looking for is a special post-treatment for electropolished surfaces developed by Dr. Tadahiro Ohmi at the Tohoku University in Tokyo. The electropolished surface is heat-treated in the presence of ultrapure oxygen gas, imparting a"gold" color and, reportedly, increased oxide thickness and corrosion resistance.

Dr. Ohmi has written a number of papers on this topic. You can order a copy of "The Ohmi Papers" from Canon Communications in Santa Monica, CA.

Ohmi refers to the process as "dry oxidation", although we have heard it referred to as "gold electropolishing" or "the Ohmi process". To our knowledge, the technique has met with only limited acceptance by the US industry, but we know that evaluations are underway.

Ed Bayha
Metal Coating Process Corporation - Charlotte, North Carolina
1997