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Porosity testing of hard chrome plated surfaces

Dear sirs,

We are manufacturers of actuators for the valve Industry. Frequently shafts are hard chrome plated for better wear properties. However, the plating quality has to be certified for porosity.

Kindly suggest appropriate testing method suitable directly on the component, with out any deterioration of the component after testing.

Thanks & regards,

M.B. Rao
- Bangalore, Karnataka, India
2007

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A high tech and expensive (but good) way of doing it would be with a Wyko optical profiler.

This would be non-destructive and it would give you a 3-D image of what your surface looks like.

Terry Tomt
- Auburn, Washington

A standard copper sulphate ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] test might be appropriate, although I never used it on chrome plating because we did thick chrome plate. I would not recommend using the Feroxyl test as it is very sensitive for iron.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida