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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Problems and Issues Hard Anodizing of 7075 Aluminum
Q. Does anyone have any advice on hardcoating 7075 alloy aluminum? We hardcoat 1" dia rings at 40 F, 18% sulfuric acid, with a proprietary hardcoat additive. Occasionally the parts will burn in the hardcoat tank ( applying .002 thick hardcoat dyed black. I suspect the alloy is the problem since we have little problem with other customers parts of other alloys. The parts are being racked on 6000 series fixtures. Have tried ramping up the current slowly at the beginning of the hardcoat cycle with some success. Would a rack made of the same alloy as the parts help? Any other ideas? Thank you.
Keith Rosenblum1998
Treatment &
Finishing of
Aluminium and
Its Alloys"
by Wernick, Pinner
& Sheasby
(note: this book is two volumes)
on eBay or
AbeBooks
or Amazon
(affil links)
A. Keith
Contrary to what you may have heard, 7075 alloy is not that difficult to hardcoat.
Charlie Grubbs1998
A. To hardcoat 7075, try running the bath colder (we run at 14 °F). Also, make sure you have adequate agitation in the tank. After ramp, your voltage should be approx. 21V (not to exceed 30V).
Henry Wolff1998
December 9, 2021
Keith. Parts I worked with in industry the anodizer said about.001" per side. Most of what I worked on had to be post finished or polished. The anodizing was like flat paint. It was lapped or finished as required. In effect a very expensive process due to final fit at assembly.
What little I had done on racers was bout the same. It was a very hard surface but worked well. At least the coater or anodizing company was consistent. You could machine parts undersize to allow for it and use as is if possible. There are other durable coatings now that are just about as wear resistant and hard. Ace pistons have this and it takes some bad things happening in the motors to see scuffing now days.
Bentwings Byron NelsonTo minimize your searching efforts and to offer multiple viewpoints, we've combined some threads into the dialog you're viewing. Please forgive any resultant repetition or failures of chronological order.
Hardcoating 7075 Aluminum Alloy
Q. I have a problem with coating hard anodizing on aluminum alloy 7075: the coating looks good when the anodizing is complete. The problem was when the coating needed to be machined down to blueprint size the coating started to peel off as if the coating didn't bond to the aluminum. I need to know if aluminum alloy 7075 can be hard anodized?
Albert Romero Jr2002
A. Done all the time! One customer of ours routinely hardcoats 1/2 mil over size and post anodize hones parts to size. Cylinders are 7075 and since they're for aerospace industry, quality is paramount. They don't peel or crack!
Milt Stevenson, Jr.
Syracuse, New York
2002
Q. I have been having trouble Hard Anodizing 7075 alum, I seem to look great while the parts are wet but after drying the parts look very dusty. The temperature in the anodize tank is 45 °F, volts 25 to 30, time 60 mins.
What's my problem ?
2006
|
A. Hardcoat is done by AMPS per SQUARE FOOT, typically 36 a.s.f. The power must be ramped slowly and the voltage steadily increased until a set voltage, usually typical thickness is achieved at a set terminal voltage - 2 mils at 70 volts, etc. The ramp and characteristic voltage/thickness relationship is highly alloy dependent and 7075 is not one of the easier alloys to hardcoat - the dustiness sounds like early onset of burning. Lastly, 45 °F is rather high for hardcoat - try to get it down to 32 °F. Milt Stevenson, Jr. Syracuse, New York 2006 2006 A. Tell us more. Surface Prep, Free Acid, Dissolved Aluminum, racking, thickness of part, current density, ramp time to c.d...  Robert H Probert Robert H Probert Technical Services  Garner, North Carolina  2006 A. It's relatively easy to hard anodize 7075. These seem like Type II conditions. Perhaps too high a temperature, insufficient agitation for parts cooling, improper current density (e.g., from excessive initial & inadequate final voltages)... Please describe the following: - Goleta, California 
Finishing.com honored Ken for his countless carefully researched responses. He passed away May 14, 2015.Rest in peace, Ken. Thank you for your hard work which the finishing world, and we at finishing.com, continue to benefit from. A. It is powdery,right? 2006 A. Let's See ... If the coating is of a gold-ish color and the dusty like effect is of the alloy and is correct. Remember that the color of the hardcoat is due to the alloy materials. Chris Snyder2006 |
A. It is rather easy to hard coat 7075 we use a bath at 46 °F; we use 35 ASF 45 min and get 2 mil we do use an additive and lots of air agitation.
Steve Tanner2006
A. Your tank is running too hot! Try at 36 degrees and high agitation. Make sure you have tight contact on racks. Also use aluminum racks not titanium racks. Sometimes you have a better finish and better contact.
James KokielJanuary 21, 2017
Hard anodizing of 7055 aluminum alloy
Does anyone have any experience in hard anodize on alloy 7055 ?
Thanks
August 13, 2014
A. Apparently 7055 is not as commonly anodized as 7075 :-)
We have more than a dozen threads on this site about hard anodizing of 7075, but I'm not sure if they're highly relevant or totally irrelevant to your issues with 7055. What is your situation?
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2014
Sodium Sulfonate Additive for increased corrosion resistance of anodized aluminum
Q. I am undertaking a research on anodization of 7075 aluminium alloy. Actually I want to use sulfuric acid anodization with organic acid additives. I don't know which of the sodium sulfonates to use as additive. Is it also possible to use more than one additive in the anodization? The research is basically to improve corrosion resistance of the alloy.
Abdullahi MohammedAugust 29, 2015
August 2015
? Hi Abdullahi. What prior research or experience points to this as a possible route to improved corrosion resistance? Thanks.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. I have anodized 7075 and it has gone green. Any ideas on why?
David CatchpoleNovember 2, 2015
?? No idea on why without more information.
Was the part dyed?
Sealing medium?
Coating thickness?
Environmental conditions (lighting conditions inside?, outdoor exposure?, temperatures?, etc.) part was exposed to after anodizing, and for how long?
Marc Green
anodizer - Boise, Idaho
November 8, 2015
Q. HAS ANYONE HAD PROBLEMS HARD ANODIZING 7050 MATERIAL? I GET WHITE patches THROUGHOUT THE PARTS LITERALLY, white parts. ANYONE?
SONIA BALCAZARSeptember 9, 2016
A. Hello Ms. Balcazar,
Photos of the patches showing their shape, orientation relative to sharp edges or rack points, smeariness of margins, etc. would help.
When are the marks visible? What is the first process step that you can see them?
Also without any information whatsoever on your operating conditions and process steps, any answer the community might have will be no more than a guess.
Please provide some basic information to help us help you.
Rachel Mackintosh
lab rat - Greenfield, Vermont
October 30, 2018
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