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Plating on Titanium

We are experiencing a problem plating on Titanium, then undergoing a 750F-one hour heat test without blistering. We are bead blasting, pretreating, and plating 150 microinches of EN. Parts look excellent until we run the heat test, then all bets are off. Any help would be appreciated.

GARY HEIN
VP SALES-PLATING FACILITY - BREA, California, USA
July 16, 2009

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First of two simultaneous responses --

Titanium forms an oxide very rapidly which will cause the part to peel.
You can not use conventional prep steps for Ti. Do a web search for articles on it. There are at least two old ones that work. I do not remember which ones that I used are proprietary, so suggest the literature route.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
July 22, 2009

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Second of two simultaneous responses --

We provide information on special proprietary method of plating on titanium that stands heat treatment and other conditions.

Contact us for more information

Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

July 22, 2009

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July 30, 2009

As the gentleman mentioned earlier, titanium degrades to anatase almost instantly in the presence of air or water. It's so reactive that 325 mesh titanium nano powder can spontaneously combust.

When you're baking at that temperature, you're also changing the crystal phase of titanium dioxide from anatase to rutile. This is probably where the blisters are coming from. Rutile is acicular, and so it elongates when it forms.

You are going to need to treat your titanium parts in a highly reducing environment, to prevent the ceramic from forming.

Robert H Kinner
- Toledo, OH, United States

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Maybe you should look into PVD coating, rather than wet plating. Part of the PVD process is to sputter etch away the oxide on the surface before coating, so there will be no oxide layer beneath the coating. Nickel can be deposited by PVD, as well as most other metals and, of course, metal nitrides. Titanium nitride and zirconium nitride, in particular, provide excellent protection for titanium, adhere well, and are substantially harder and more wear resistant.

Jim Treglio - scwineryreview.com
PVD Consultant & Wine Lover - San Diego,
California
August 4, 2009