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Hydrogen Embrittlement in Plating

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Q. My initial question may be not clear; sorry about that. We are CLEANING parts, not plating parts. We just simply clean parts in ultrasound tank with Omegaclean solvent (by Omegasonics). Thanks.

David Ho
- Milford, Connecticut, USA
November 20, 2013

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Is hydrogen embrittlement a problem if plated parts are stripped immediately?

Q. If parts are plated, and the plating is stripped almost immediately due to a plating defect, is hydrogen embrittlement still a concern, given that the "sealing process" has been conducted but removed soon after?

Rob Ogden
- Jamestown New York USA
September 29, 2015

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Q. Is anybody aware of a simple test to validate that hydrogen embrittlement was not introduced into a batch of helical compression springs (not necessarily a full proof test but one that will catch provide some assurance against gross processing errors). We have many zinc electroplated music wire springs produced for our products. I know of simple bolt tests where a sample qty is torqued to 80% of failure, let rest under load for 24 hours, release torque and reapply same torque. A break is a strong indicator that HE is present. For more assurance, check again at 48 and 72 hours. I am considering a specification that the supplier load the springs to solid height for 24 hours and a break is a failure. Possibly add a release and reapply step. However, every spring is different and the stress at solid height might not be significant enough to induce an embrittlement failure. Thank you

Scott Brown
Curtiss Wright - Portland, Oregon, USA
March 15, 2017

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Thanks for the reply Mark. The supplier does do a bake after plating. And I intended for the embrittlement validation test to come after that. Scott Brown [returning] - Portland, Oregon March 20, 2017 A. This is not responsive to your question but it is relevant. I'd recommend reading ASTM B849-02 and ASTM B850-98. Tom Rochester CTO - Jackson, Michigan, USA Plating Systems & Technologies, Inc. March 20, 2017

A. Hi Scott,
There is a test you can do.
If you plate notched bars alongside the springs they can be used to test for embrittlement, via tensile testing.
ASTM F519 will tell you all you need to know about the test and what constitutes a pass or fail.
Good luck

Mark Lees
- Cold snowy rock in the irish sea
March 22, 2017

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March 8, 2017

Q. I am planning to carry out hydrogen de-embrittlement baking for a set of parts -- a cycle of 200 °C for 8 hours.
The parts can only be plated one at a time due to their large size (zinc nickel plating on a high strength steel). The plating cycle is 1 hour but the baking duration is 8 hours -- hence cycle time mismatch for production planning.
I need to know whether it would be permissible to interrupt the baking process during hydrogen de-embrittlement for a short while, in order to open the oven doors and add another component into the oven, so that I can plan production for at least 2 parts one after the other. The oven can hold 2 parts at a time.
The oven temperature would probably drop from 200 °C to 100 °C in the interval when the doors are open.
It might take another 20-30 minutes for the temperature to climb back up to °C.
Will the drop in temperature due to the interruption adversely affect the HE process ?
Thanks in advance!

Ravi Rao
- Belgaum,Karnataka, India

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March 27, 2017

Thanks a lot, Blake. Appreciate your response. It is immensely helpful.

Q. Although it has appeared once earlier on this thread, albeit in a very brief manner, I would like to ask again the following:
If we have to strip the part immediately after plating for rework, does it need to be de-embrittled before replating? If yes, how many hours; which standard clearly mentions the times and temperatures for stripping rework? Would be using HCL solution say 20%, for stripping.

Ravi Rao
- Belgaum, India

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Silver Plating fails notchbar tests despite hydrogen embrittlement relief before & after plating

Q. THIS IS ELVIS INDARTE. IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS I'M HAVING PROBLEMS WITH HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT FAILURES IN TESTING NOTCHES FOR SILVER PLATING. THE STRESS RELIEF IS DONE IMMEDIATELY IN A 15 MINUTES PERIOD AFTER PLATING AND I BAKE THE NOTCHES 375 °F FOR 8 HOURS PRIOR TO PLATE AND 375 °F FOR 23 HOURS AFTER PLATE. THE PARAMETERS OF THE SOLUTION ARE GOOD WITH A LITTLE HIGH CARBONATE. I AM STOPPED WITH THE SILVER PLATE UNTIL I GET A SOLUTION, CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME? I DON'T NOT WHAT TO DO?

Elvis Indarte
- college point, New York USA
May 12, 2017

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May 13, 2017 I'm not a big fan of testing surrogate parts. If you have real world parts that break even though the surrogate parts are okay, you are still in trouble. And if the surrogate parts break and the real world parts don't, you are almost certainly okay. But this is only my opinion. It is possible to mechanically plate silver if cosmetics are not an issue. There is a small market for such work in the USA. Mechanical plating has been established for over 60 years as a hydrogen-embrittlement-free process. Tom Rochester CTO - Jackson, Michigan, USA Plating Systems & Technologies, Inc. May 15, 2017 Hi Elvis, A couple of things you could look at: Firstly look at the quality of the notching. I had a similar problem with failures that when we looked at the notches of unplated parts had micro cracks where the notch had been poorly machined. We procured new bars and the problem went away. Secondly you should look at all stages of the plating process including pre-cleaning, any electrolytic etches and the silver strike, assuming you are using one. All of these factors can contribute to failure, especially if you are using an acidic electrolytic etch and use it cathodically rather than anodically. Brian Terry Aerospace - Yeovil, Somerset, UK

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Q. Most of the information I read regarding hydrogen embrittlement after plating references an electrolytic plating process, such as electrolytic nickel plating. We process many parts and have them plated using an autocatalytic (electroless) nickel plating process per ASTM B733. Is there a difference in hydrogen embrittlement levels after an electrolytic plating process versus an electroless process?

Robert Diamond
L3 Narda-MITEQ - Hauppauge, New York, USA
December 5, 2017

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Q. Hi,
My plating supplier made a process error, parts that were already baked, was re-baked again.

Process flow should be HT -> Plating -> Baking -> Chromating.

Actual process HT -> Plating -> Baking -> Baking

I would like to know if the parts can directly go to chromating or we should do HT process -> Baking again?

Muhammad Ahras H.M.
Press Stamping, Heat Treatment and Plating - Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia
October 10, 2019

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Does Metal Spraying Cause Hydrogen Embrittlement?

Q. John from South Africa here. I am molybdenum spraying Titanium Ti-6AL-4V wing attachment pins and would appreciate it if I could find some guidance on whether baking is required to remove hydrogen after plating. Temperature and duration would be appreciated. Thanks.

John Brindle
Aviation - South Africa
November 8, 2019

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Q. I have a bolt that is 15-5PH H/T 180-200 KSI that has hydrogen embrittlement occurring after hard chrome plate. The part is processed in two plating operations. One operation is to plate the shank and the other to plate the washer pad (underneath the head of the bolt). The part gets activated in sulfuric HF anodically and then plated. Plating time is 6-12 hours per operation. Parts are baked before plate for 4 hours at 375 °F and after plating for 24 hours at 375 °F. The part goes in the oven after plating within 2 hours.

Hydrogen embrittlement is occurring in the threads after plating. Do you have any ideas why is hydrogen embrittlement occurring? Can hydrogen embrittlement be reduced by activating the part in chromic acid etch or in the plating tank?

Orlando Castillo
- Torrance, California, USA
December 5, 2019

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Q. I am constrained to use sulfuric HF for activation, alkaline cleaner for cleaning the part, and chrome plating solution. The only thing I can do to reduce HE is baking in the oven. Seems not to do anything increasing the bake time. Any suggestions?

Orlando Castillo [returning]
- Torrance, California
December 14, 2019

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Hydrogen embrittlement relief is softening our carburized parts

October 7, 2020

Hello, I work in the automotive industry and have been working in supply management for about 4 years.

Right now I've been facing a problem with H.E. on a bracket - lift hook, material is steel 1008 (low carbon) with a thickness of 4 mm.

Initially the process flow was: STAMPING > CARBURIZING > TEMPER > PLATING

After a focused analysis because of fracture problems, we found that the parts were going into failure due to Hydrogen Embrittlement.

So now the current process flow is: STAMPING > CARBURIZING > TEMPER > PLATING > BAKING (8 hrs at 140 °C).

However, I've noticed that the surface hardness of the final product changed as well. From min. 58 HRC (old process) to min. 40 HRC (current process).

Does this make sense? Can we say we are expecting a reduction on the surface hardness after a baking process for HE Relief of 8 hours at 140 °C + 4 hours of natural cooling?

Thank you!

Antonio Carrillo
- San Luis Potosi, Mexico