During the production process of the stainless steel, the product is left with some substances on its layers. This foreign materials on the stainless steels are the active agent of causing rust on the stainless steel. Therefore, the passivation process is the procedure of treating the stainless steel from these foreign materials. The passivation process is achieved through the use of citric acid or nitric acid. These chemicals remove the foreign materials like water, oxygen and other metallic residuals from the stainless steel that would imperfect its workability. In this page, we will discuss some of the major benefits of passivation.
The passivation process after electropolishing is very important because it helps to keep steel from rusting. Metals are known to get corroded if they are left for some time. Water. Oxygen and interaction with other metals are the factors that contribute to the corrosion process of most metals. Though stainless steel is known not to corrode because it's stainless, contact with other foreign materials like metallic residues can result in the stainless steel rusting. The passivation process is therefore beneficial at this stage to eliminate all these materials that make the stainless steel to rust.
The other benefit of the passivation process is to make the metal smooth for cleaning. After the electropolishing process is complete there are particles that remain on the metal surface. These materials make the metal surface to be very rough when washing the metal. The passivation process is encouraged so as to eliminate all the roughness of the metal to make it smooth for cleaning. It also reduces the metal adhesion hence making the metal to last for long without any substances building up on the surfaces. Remember these materials that attach on the surface of the metal are the ones that cause roughness and corrosion of the metal. Therefore once they have been eliminated through the passivation process you have no worry about your metal cleaning and corrosion effects. Read more here: https://astropak.com/.
The next benefit of passivation is the perfect metal finish. When the metal has been produced and electropolishing is done, the metal has some roughness on its surface. Also, there could be less reflective and with high friction. All these properties are not desirable when handling the metal. If you want to measure the roughness of the metal you can sue the profilometer instrument. The passivation process reduces all the roughness and on the metal to make it smoother, reduce the friction and enhance its heat and light reflection capability. This properties of a metal made to be more appealing on the eyes of the customers. Get more info here: http://engineering.wikia.com/wiki/Passivation.