Maintaining the consistencies in electropolishing results by characterizing the polishing bath state as a function of its instant key properties

Abstract

Electropolishing is an advanced industrial metal finishing in practice commercially since the mid-20th century, to treat the metals with electricity and industrial chemicals. The process has grown remarkably in the last 50 years; the medical and pharmaceutical industry's growth is a strong driving force for the electropolishing industry now. The work detailed in this thesis focuses on maintaining the uniformities in electropolishing qualities by specifying the polishing bath state as an approximation of its fundamental properties. In light of the scarcity of precise information regarding the techniques to keep the electropolishing process in control as the polishing bath ages, this research will present the organized data for an ageing bath. A mathematical model constructed from the vital polishing bath properties measured on-the-spot is used to quantify the polishing deliverables concerning surface roughness as a function of its immediate critical bath properties. The work results demonstrate that the model can anticipate the polishing capabilities under selected polishing conditions for a given polishing bath state, fresh, aged or regenerated. This model-based technique reduces the trial and error-based efforts the polishing industry takes to figure out the suitable operating parameters to deliver the polishing results when the aged bath is no longer efficient

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