INCERTEC has been featured in a recent Products Finishing article focusing on their growth in Florida’s aerospace market. Learn how expansion into heat treatment and liquid painting services have helped INCERTEC quickly become one of the main players in the Sunshine State’s aerospace and defense industries.
Gas fan quenching is the process of introducing a gas into a vacuum furnace in order to quickly and reliably cool the heat-treated parts at a controlled rate. The types of gases that can be used in this process include:
Sometimes, these gases are used in combination to quench parts. At INCERTEC, we use nitrogen for all of our gas quenching. There are other quenching mediums available, including oil and water, so be sure you have a thorough understanding of each method before choosing the quench that is best for your components. Need some help deciding on the best quenching process for your parts? Reach out to the experts at INCERTEC for trusted insight and proven solutions.
Gas fan quenching is the process of cooling heated parts by introducing a gas into a vacuum furnace chamber after parts have undergone heat treatment. Doing this in a controlled way allows parts to be quickly and uniformly cooled without removing them from the chamber.
There are three methods for quenching: oil, water and gas. Oil and water quenching can be less uniform than gas, making it more likely for the parts to be distorted during quenching. Both of these methods also require disposal of the water or oil, which adds time, effort and cost to the process. At INCERTEC we only vacuum quench with nitrogen gas, as it offers the greatest range of benefits and is versatile enough to work with all kinds of parts.
Quenching parts with nitrogen gas has many benefits — overall, the process is quick, efficient and cost-effective without sacrificing the quality of the results. Specifically, vacuum gas quenching provides uniform cooling, a bright and clean surface finish, minimizes quench cracking and is an environmentally friendly process, especially when compared to other quenching methods. The process is ideally suited for both alloys and ferrous metals, including various types of steel.
By cooling parts evenly and uniformly, gas quenching reduces the possibility of cracking or distortions. This means the parts will keep the properties of their heat treatment and are less likely to fail during use, making the gas quenching process a good fit for parts like gears, bearings and similar automotive components that need to be as strong and structurally sound as possible to extend their service life.
Gas leaves no residue or scale behind after quenching, unlike liquid quenching mediums. This means that once parts are quenched, they have a bright, smooth surface that needs no further post treatment, making it ideal for parts that require precision — like turbines in the aerospace industry.
Gas quenching is an environmentally friendly quenching option that does not require harmful chemicals or liquids. Nitrogen is not a harmful gas and produces no problem side effects. INCERTEC is proud to be RoHS compliant and gas quenching plays a big role in that certification.
Stress relieving and normalizing, two heat treating processes, can be used to improve the quality and reduce the imperfections in iron and steel parts. Stress relieving heat treatment will reduce, or relieve, the internal stresses of parts after fabrication by heating parts to a temperature below their critical point and cooled slowly. After being welded, formed or cut, stress relieving reduces the chances of parts cracking, warping or distorting during use.
Normalizing is also used to improve parts, but by heating them beyond their critical point and allowing them to cool. This will improve the grain structure of the metal and increase its toughness and strength.
Some commonly relieved and normalized parts include:
Stress Relieved
Normalized
Ready to get started with INCERTEC’s stress relief or normalizing heat treatment services? Contact us today to request a quote or get more information.
There are two types of stress relieving: vacuum and air. While both will relieve internal stress they are slightly different in practice. Air stress relieving uses open air to cool the parts after they are heated. This method is cost-effective and fairly efficient. Vacuum stress relieving uses the vacuum furnace to cool the parts after they are heated. The lack of atmosphere helps keep the parts scale-free, so they won’t need to be washed after the process.
There are many benefits of both stress relieving and normalizing, let’s break them down here:
Stress Relieving
Normalizing
These processes are well suited for parts that will be used in a wide range of industries, including the automotive, manufacturing and construction industries.
The materials that respond the best to both stress relieving and normalizing are iron and all kinds of steels. These materials gain the most from the dimensional stability imparted by these processes.
Vacuum tempering is a heat treatment process that is used after an initial hardening process. Parts are placed in vacuum chamber, reheated and cooled based on specific parameters to achieve the following results:
Many parts made of various materials can be improved by vacuum tempering, including critical components used in the firearms, automotive and aerospace industries.
Want to speak with one of our experts about vacuum tempering? Contact us today!
Vacuum tempering uses a sealed vacuum furnace chamber to create a no- or low-pressure environment. Air and other gases are removed to create an inert environment to ensure the parts are not contaminated. The vacuum chamber can be heated to a range of temperatures based on the needs of the material being tempered.
Depending on the parts and materials being tempered, INCERTEC can alter the heat and time the entire process takes. However, there are some constants, such as the use of the vacuum chamber to keep the parts free of contaminants and in a stable environment. The rest of the process generally follows these steps:
Vacuum tempering has many benefits, including being an eco-friendly, efficient and fast solution for parts that require the benefits of the process. Tempering is also compatible with many different types of metals, including:
Vacuum annealing is a heat treatment process that uses a controlled vacuum environment and heat to alter the properties of metal components. The process is capable of providing a number of desirable results, including:
Vacuum annealing is suitable for a variety of materials, including stainless steels, titanium alloys, and tool steels.
Want to speak with an expert about vacuum annealing? Reach out to us today!
The vacuum chamber used in the annealing process is a controlled environment where air and other gasses are removed to create a sterile space. These chambers can reach high temperatures and create and maintain a low-pressure or complete vacuum environment to ensure the annealed parts aren’t contaminated and have minimal defects. Inert gas is often used to quench the parts at a fixed rate to produce the necessary final results.
At INCERTEC, annealing follows a fairly straightforward process. It always requires a vacuum furnace chamber that can heat to the required temperature and create an environment that is free of contaminants, with minimal or zero pressure. The steps include:
Many metals respond well to the annealing process. Some of the most common that we deal with are:
Parts made of these materials that go through the annealing process have higher ductility and stability, allowing them to be worked again after the process. This enhances the reliability and overall precision when these materials are used in their end form, making them invaluable to many vital industries. Annealed metals are often found in engine and suspension parts in the automotive industry, aircraft frames and landing gears in the aerospace industry, semiconductors in the electronics industry and internal devices such as pacemakers in the medical industry.
Vacuum hardening is a heat treatment process for metal components that uses a controlled vacuum or partial pressure, high heat and rapid quenching to improve strength, durability, surface brightness and cleanliness, stability and a variety of other properties. This process is exceptionally suited for metals including tool steel, stainless steel and titanium and is one of the quicker and most cost-effective heat treatment methods available.
Want to speak with one of our experts about vacuum hardening? Reach out today!
First and most importantly, vacuum hardening requires a vacuum furnace. A vacuum furnace is capable of reaching temperatures as high as 1,300 °C and creating and holding a low pressure or complete vacuum environment to prevent oxidation and contamination of the parts. Vacuum hardening often uses inert gases like nitrogen to quench the parts at a fixed rate based on the desired results. In addition to hardening, the equipment and conditions can be used for high-quality heat treatment processes like annealing, brazing, and sintering to produce parts with superior purity and minimal defects.
During the process, the metal that’s being hardened is brought to temperature inside the furnace as it heats up, minimizing the potential stress that can be introduced when there is a large temperature difference. Depending on the metal and needed results, the parts will be held at temperature for a predetermined amount of time. Quenching is the final part of the process, which is most commonly done by introducing nitrogen or another inert gas to cool the parts. Quenching time is variable, depending on the desired results.
Every step of the vacuum hardening process is designed to prevent distortion, oxidation, scaling, decarburization, and other surface imperfections, resulting in improved wear resistance, stability, hardness, surface brightness and overall performance.
There are a number of good material candidates for this type of heat treatment, including:
Parts made from these materials and subjected to vacuum hardening are valued for their performance and reliability in a number of critical industries. For instance, parts hardened this way can be used for engines and turbines for the aerospace industry, various dies and cutting tools in tool manufacturing, precision instruments in the medical industry and transmission components and other parts that require tight tolerances in the automotive industry.
Dyes used in the metal anodizing process are used to imbue the substrate of the parts with a range of available colors. Different hues can be created by altering the concentration of the dye, based on the specific needs of the part being anodized. The eventual application of the part will influence the ideal type of dyes and anodized colors available.
Want to talk to one of our anodizing experts? Reach out to us today!
There are both organic and inorganic dye options available for anodizing. Organic dyes are generally made from acids or mordents, while inorganic dyes are derived from inorganic salts from various metals like tin, nickel or cobalt sulfide. Both are widely used, the choice between the two options usually comes down to the anodized part’s eventual function.
Parts that are anodized and dyed are used in a wide range of industries and applications such as:
The ideal anodizing dye choice is determined by a number of factors, such as the environment that the parts will be used in, desired color, lightfastness and overall compatibility. For instance, it is recommended that parts that are exposed to regular UV light or harsh environments should be colored with inorganic dyes since they offer better resistance, lightfastness and stability in these conditions. On the other hand, if the brightness or a wider range of color options are more of a concern, organic dyes are more suitable.
INCERTEC offers a variety of anodizing dye colors, including:
The anodized dyeing process is growing in popularity in part because it is an eco-friendly option for coloring parts while also improving their core characteristics. Anodizing dyes are low-toxicity and comply with environmental regulations, producing no hazardous waste throughout the process.
Before parts can be anodized and dyed, they must first be cleaned thoroughly. Degreasing removes any dirt or particulate on the surface, acid etching then creates a surface that is more conducive to the anodizing process and then a thorough rinse ensures that the surface of the metal is as clean as possible going into the next steps.
If the entire surface of the part is not going to be anodized, the masking step is used to cover and protect those areas. Masking allows for aesthetic flexibility and customization during the anodizing process, while also allowing specific areas to retain properties like conductivity after the anodizing is complete.
Racking serves a vital function in both the anodizing and dyeing steps. Racks hold the part or parts securely in place throughout the entire process, while also being the electrical current pathway during anodizing. There are a number of racking techniques that can be used depending on the material and overall requirements of the parts being anodized.
Nonferrous metals — and their alloys — can be anodized. Aluminum is the most commonly anodized material, but titanium and magnesium are also viable options.
Since its initial development in the 1980s, 3D printing has been gaining momentum in the manufacturing industry. Instead of subtracting from a block of raw material or injecting into a mold, a part is created by building the structure layer by layer using a computer file as the “recipe” and raw material typically in the form of a powder, resin, or synthetic filament.
While 3D printing is praised for its ability to create geometric shapes and accommodate design changes with greater ease than traditional manufacturing, there are material restraints that must be considered. The lightweight plastics and resins used are susceptible to damage or delamination under certain stresses and do not conduct electricity.
Parts can be 3D printed using metal coatings to avoid some of the above-mentioned pitfalls. However, this option is relatively expensive and not yet considered practical for large scale production. Continuing to 3D print with plastic material keeps the part lighter than the metal equivalents. Maintaining a lightweight product is notably important in the aerospace and automotive industries as they strive to maintain fuel-efficiency in a time when fuel costs and usage are on many minds. How can these 3D-printed parts be utilized on a larger scale unless they maintain a crucial strength and corrosion resistance?
Plating on 3D plastic couples additive manufacturing and metal plating; resulting in a final product that is lightweight and functional. The layer of metal deposited onto the 3D print provides the corrosion resistance, strength, and electrical conductivity necessary to allow the part to be treated like a traditionally manufactured part without the material waste or extra weight.
With so many options for print material, it wouldn’t be practical to list them. There are a few properties that can improve your ability to metalize the polymer.
Learn More about plating on plastics and composites.
Most subtractive or injection molding parts require a final coating or treatment of some kind to protect the substrate from corrosion and improve longevity within the final application. By applying this necessity to 3D prints, manufacturers have more flexibility in creating large and small batches of a variety of designs without the need to invest in new, expensive equipment and hours of calibration. Applying plating on plastic parts increases the mechanical properties by protecting the substrate, adding conductivity, and strengthening the part overall.
Virtually any finish can be applied to a plastic substrate once it has been metalized.
When electroplating 3D prints, tin, cadmium and zinc-nickel are also suitable finishes to add to a plastic substrate. Contact us for a quote or to learn more.
INCERTEC handles a wide variety of plating on plastic as well as plating on other unique substrates like composites, magnets, and ceramics. Contact us to discuss your plastic plating needs.
Every year, major coating and finishing shops across North America participate in Products Finishing’s Top Shops program helps finishers identify optimal shopfloor practices and improve business operations and procedures. Based on the Top Shops Benchmarking Survey, Top Shops is much more than awards program. Reports containing a data driven analysis of the shops performance in numerous key operating metrics help shops measure their performance against their peers in the industry.
“This is the 9th year we’ve conducted the Top Shops Benchmarking Survey, offering industrial finishers with a non-biased way to evaluate their shop’s performance,” says Products Finishing editor-in-chief Scott Francis. “The goal of Top Shops is continuous improvement — and we take that message to heart. Over the past year we’ve been investing additional resources into the program and working to improve the turnaround time of the benchmarking reports.”
Qualifying as a Top Shop has become an important distinction for shops in the finishing industry.
INCERTEC has been selected as a Products Finishing Top Shop in electroplating and anodizing for 2023, based on data analytics from this year’s Top Shops Benchmarking Survey.
“Sincere congratulations to the team at INCERTEC upon achieving status as a 2023 Products Finishing Top Shop,” Francis says. “The selection process for Top Shops is based on numerous aspects of your business, and qualifying as a Top Shop is a reflection your team’s hard work and cause for celebration.”
Hundreds of shops participate in Top Shops each year, resulting in a collection of data and statistics that prove invaluable for discovering and assessing areas for growth and improvement, including finishing technology, performance and practices, business strategy and human resources.
To learn more about Top Shops Benchmarking visit gardnerintelligence.com/report/top-shops-benchmarking
Tin electroplating is the process of using an electrical current to create a chemical reaction to produce a layer of tin plating onto a ferrous or nonferrous substrate. The electrical current travels through an aqueous solution of tin chemistry and a positively charged tin anode, causing the tin in the solution to attract onto the metal parts attached to a negatively charged cathode. The result is a soft, silver-white deposit of tin on the desired substrate.
The type of method used for tin plating relies heavily on the configuration of the part and on customer requirements. No plating method is inherently better than another, but one will be more appropriate over another based on the limitations of a part.
Matte Tin Plating – Matte tin has a dull surface appearance because it does not contain any brightening additives. The lack of brighteners allows matte tin to maintain excellent solderability and ductility.
Bright Tin Plating – Bright tin contains additives that tighten the grain structure of the deposited metal, creating a shinier, more cosmetic appearance. Due to the tightened grain structure, bright tin is also more resistant to discoloration over matte tin. However, there is a risk of the bright tin burning when soldered due to the addition of the brighteners.
Tin Lead Plating – Lead alloy is added to pure tin to combat the phenomenon of “whiskers” occurring in the pure tin. The common co-deposit of these two alloys are 60/40 tin lead and 90/10 tin lead. The added lead alloy lowers the tin’s melting point from 450ºF to 361ºF. This lowered melting point makes tin lead an optimal choice in electrical applications for its superior solderability.
Bismuth Tin Plating – Bismuth tin is an increasingly common RoHS-compliant alternative to tin lead with a co-deposit of tin and bismuth. Bismuth tin is capable of withstanding long-term cold exposure, combating the condition known as tin pest. The added bismuth deposit also makes the tin whisker resistant.
Whiskers – Whiskering is a phenomenon that causes metal filaments to occur on the surface of pure tin plating. Whiskers can appear soon after plating or take years to appear. These crystalline structures can be .0001 inch in diameter and can stretch 3/8 inch or longer, with the capacity to carry current. In the majority of applications, the growth of whiskers is not an issue. However, pure tin is not recommended for applications with low-voltage electrical equipment where items are closely spaced. As the whiskers can cause electrical shorts or current arcs and critical disruptions in the electronics. Underplates like nickel can help reduce the risk of whiskers or co-depositing the tin with a minimum of 2% lead or bismuth.
Low Melting Point – While the low melting point of tin is ideal for soldering applications, the limited temperature window of tin restricts the number of appropriate applications outside of soldering. Tin on steel faces difficulty due to the high temperature typically needed to relieve the steel of the embrittlement.
Tin Pest – Also known as tin disease. Occurs when the structure of the pure tin molecules expands and moves away from its cubic structure. The molecular change becomes greatly unstable in the presence of low temperatures. Due to the unstable nature of the structure, the tin can lose adhesion to the substrate and loses conductivity. Ultimately, the tin becomes incredibly brittle and disintegrates at an increasing pace. Tin pest is at great risk of forming in temperatures in -22ºF to -40ºF, but still poses a risk at prolonged temperatures of 56ºF and cooler. Tins co-deposited with lead or bismuth do not experience the same risks.
Tin Oxide – Care should be taken while handling 
and storing tin-plated items. Tin oxide naturally occurs in a clean, dry atmosphere with continuous airflow, but the oxidation rate is very slow. If the tin is stored in a warm, humid environment with little airflow, the oxidation occurs at a much more rapid rate. A thick dull gray oxidation layer will form requiring the oxide to be broken through before successful soldering can occur. Using a resistance paper during packing or storage of a tin-plated part will help slow down the oxidation and mitigate tarnishing.
Staining – The structure of the tin makes it susceptible to staining and discoloration as it absorbs moisture and oils verify easily and is not easily cleaned without burnishing the finish. Gloves are recommended in handling tin-plated parts to avoid staining or discoloration.
Fretting – When used as a contact, micro-motions and repeated mating and disconnecting of the contacts can cause fretting corrosion and wear away the tin coating. The amount of fretting can depend on the thickness of the tin deposit on the contact and can be countered with lubrication. Note: gold and tin should never be mated as a connection.
Multiple industries utilize tin electroplating for its desirable properties — like low cost, high ductility, and high solderability. INCERTEC specializes in tin electroplating complex parts for the aerospace and defense industries and testing them in accordance with strict NADCAP requirements.
Most of the parts tin lead and bismuth tin plated at INCERTEC are electrical components, standoffs, and electrical housing. These electrical components are later assembled into circuit boards with standoffs and housing that allow for the continued air circulation.
Tin electroplating is only one of the plating services offered at INCERTEC. The goal at INCERTEC is to always have the space and capacity open to partner with customers to scale production through dedicated plating lines.
As a leading metal finishing and heat treating company, INCERTEC is capable of handling challenging projects that require a high level of critical detail.