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Discover the best surface finish for the part that fits your design

by:Vowin Rapid Prototyping     2023-02-08
The designer determines the requirements of the final part. Basic parameters include geometry, size and material. However, as the industry grows, parts must have more and more quality parameters that are not as easy to select or analyze. This can include hardness, grain, tolerance and surface finish. A good designer must be able to choose from the best combination of part parameters to make it work perfectly and at the lowest possible cost. This article aims to make an informed choice of the correct surface finish for a part. Surface Texture Parameters There are many possible ways to obtain the desired surface texture. Textures themselves are described in several important ways. First, a machined surface (uncoated) can be identified by its layout, waviness and roughness. Coating surface textures can be mirror-like, matte or have custom textures. Additionally, the hardness and corrosion resistance of the surface are also important when it comes to functional coatings. Machined Surface Texture A machined surface is a surface without any coatings or paints. Their texture depends on the processing method and desired part quality. Many parameters make up the overall result. For machined surfaces, the parameter names largely depend on the distance between two uneven elements. layout. The layout is determined by which processing tool removes (or in the case of 3D printing adds) material from the workpiece and its trajectory. For example, milling a part can leave visible patterns on the surface of the part. Even though the surface finish of a milled part is very smooth, you can actually see its path. You can use part layout to get better lubrication. The cross layout of the surfaces will keep the lubricant in place longer. This is why honing is such a coveted technique for hole makers. The inner surface of the hole is lubricated for a longer period of time. waves. Waviness is much less compared to layout. The waviness is much less when the layout is compared to the part size, but can still be felt if the overall quality of the part is not very high. The undulations result from the vibration of the machining tool while removing excess material. For unimportant parts or prototypes, both layout and waviness are considered low-level surface textures that can be removed by more precise machining methods. Surface roughness. Surface roughness is the parameter to check when you need a specific texture for a part without any coating. Surface roughness determines whether your part is smooth, matte, mirror finished or chipped. There are many ways to measure surface roughness. For better aesthetics, corrosion resistance and overall smoothness, lower the Ra parameter. For better part life and corrosion resistance, lower Rz. If you want better contact strength, you have to reduce Rtm (average distance between two peaks or valleys). It should also be noted that some finishing methods may add individual surface textures to the material. Sandblasting a material, for example, will leave an artificial roughness that can be used, for example, to keep a part from slipping out of a user's hand. Surface texture coating Texturing by surface roughness is very expensive because the overall quality of the surface depends on the quality of machining which in turn depends on expensive equipment, cutting tools and time. A less expensive way to achieve a glossy, matte, glossy, or mirror-like finish on rough parts is to apply paint. Metal parts can be coated in many different ways. Spray paint Spray paint is the easiest way to create a reliable surface texture on rough parts. The advantage of this method is that modern paints can apply not only color to a part, but texture as well. So if you're looking for the cheapest way to make your parts look better, just ask the manufacturer to skip the elaborate surface finishing operations and apply a fair amount of paint to cover them and make the parts Just smooth. Additionally, the paint will prevent the material from corroding. Paint can make your parts matte, glossy, glossy, rough, metallic and more. They can mimic almost any texture available on the market. So if you want some custom textures, you should first roughly look at the options that Paint offers. However, if you choose the texture provided by the paint, reduce the size of the surface by layers of paint, which can be quite large. Powder coating is similar to paint, but with much thinner layers of paint. So powder coating serves precision parts better and you can't really have a lot of different textures because of the process details (plastic powder sintered on the surface of the part) so you can only get matte or glossy with it surface. The advantages of powder coatings lie elsewhere. Anodizing and Plating These are the processes of covering the surface of one metal with another metal. You should choose them if you want to maintain the metallic feel of the part, but you should choose them if you want to significantly improve the texture quality of the surface. Such methods can give you a nice metallic finish in any desired color. But textures are limited to metal. You can't expect to have all the options for paint or even powder coating. The anodized or plated layer is lower than the painted layer, so the dimensions of the part remain the same. Conclusion Surface treatment parameters are many. Some are simply aesthetic and determine how the part will look, while others also determine its function (surface roughness). In the end, I think the best way to get the desired texture without spending a lot of money on machining is to machine the part to medium quality and then cover it with paint. That way, you don't spend too much money on treatments, and the paint offers the most variety of textures. We really hope that this article can be helpful to you, if you want to get more advice on surface treatment, contacting Woereng will provide effective and professional surface treatment advice for your parts.
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