Emulsion cleaning is an industrial cleaning process that uses an organic solvent as the main active agent. This article provides information on the applications, concerns and limitations, and process parameters of emulsion cleaning. It describes the processing variables and equipment for three main stages of emulsion cleaning: immersion cleaning, secondary cleaning, and spray cleaning. In addition, the classifications, composition, and selection criteria are also discussed.

This article describes the basic attributes of the most widely used metal surface cleaning processes to remove pigmented drawing compounds, unpigmented oil and grease, chips, cutting fluids, polishing and buffing compounds, rust and scale from steel parts, and residues and lapping compounds from magnetic particle and fluorescent penetrant inspection. The cleaning processes include emulsion cleaning, electrolytic alkaline cleaning, acid cleaning, solvent cleaning, vapor degreasing, alkaline cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, and glass bead cleaning. The article provides guidelines for choosing an appropriate process for particular applications and discusses eight well-known methods for determining the degree of cleanliness of the work surface.

Passivation; pickling, that is, acid descaling; electropolishing; and mechanical cleaning are important surface treatments for the successful performance of stainless steel used for piping, pressure vessels, tanks, and machined parts in a wide variety of applications. This article provides an overview of the various types of stainless steels and describes the commonly used cleaning methods, namely, alkaline cleaning, emulsion cleaning, solvent cleaning, vapor degreasing, ultrasonic cleaning, and acid cleaning. Finishing operations of stainless steels, such as grinding, polishing, and buffing, are reviewed. The article also explains the procedures of electrocleaning, electropolishing, electroplating, painting, surface blackening, coloring, terne coatings, and thermal spraying. It includes useful information on the surface modification of stainless steels, namely, ion implantation and laser surface processing. Surface hardening techniques, namely, nitriding, carburizing, boriding, and flame hardening, performed to improve the resistance of stainless steel alloys are also reviewed.

Zinc and zinc alloys require surface engineering prior to coating or use to improve adhesion and corrosion resistance. Die-cast zinc parts, in addition, must be trimmed and finished to remove flash and parting lines. This article covers zinc cleaning procedures as well as coating and finishing processes. It explains how to remove parting lines and presents several mechanical finishing methods, including surface polishing, brushing, controlled shot peening, and buffing. It also provides information on solvent cleaning, emulsion cleaning, aqueous detergent or alkaline cleaning), electrocleaning, acid dipping, and zinc conversion coating treatments.

This article provides an overview of surface contaminants that may affect the heat treatment processes and end-product quality. It presents information on the chemicals used to clean different surface contaminants of steels. The article discusses three types of cleaning methods, namely, mechanical, chemical, and electrochemical and their effectiveness and applicability. The mechanical cleaning methods include grinding, brushing, steam or flame jet cleaning, abrasive blasting, and tumbling. Solvent cleaning, emulsion cleaning, alkaline cleaning, acid cleaning, pickling, and descaling are chemical cleaning methods. The electrochemical cleaning methods include electropolishing, electrolytic alkaline cleaning, and electrolytic pickling. The article provides information on cleanliness measurement methods such as qualitative tests and quantitative tests to ensure product quality. Health hazards that may be associated with each cleaning method and the general control measures to be used for each hazard are tabulated.

Metal surfaces must often be cleaned before subsequent operations to remove unwanted substances such as pigmented drawing compounds, unpigmented oil and grease, chips and cutting fluids, polishing and buffing compounds, rust and scale, and miscellaneous contaminants. The article describes common cleaning processes, including alkaline, electrolytic, solvent, emulsion, molten salt bath, ultrasonic and acid cleaning as well as pickling and abrasive blasting. It also explains how to select the appropriate process for a given soil type and surface composition.

This article discusses the functions and chemistry of metal cutting or grinding fluids. It reviews the choice of cutting or grinding fluids that is influenced by the workpiece material, fluid characteristics, and machining operation. The article describes two application methods of cutting or grinding fluids: flooding and misting. It discusses and lists the American Society for Testing and Materials standard test procedures used in establishing control of cutting and grinding fluids. The article provides information on the storage, distribution, cleaning, and disposal of cutting and grinding fluids. It concludes with information on the health implications and biology of cutting fluids.

Cutting fluids play a major role in increasing productivity and reducing costs by making possible the use of higher cutting speeds, higher feed rates, and greater depths of cut. After listing the functions of cutting fluids, this article then covers the major types, characteristics, advantages and limitations of cutting and grinding fluids, such as cutting oils, water-miscible fluids, gaseous fluids, pastes, and solid lubricants along with their subtypes. It discusses the factors considered during the selection of cutting fluid, focusing on machinability (or grindability) of the material, compatibility (metallurgical, chemical, and human), and acceptability (fluid properties, reliability, and stability). The article also describes various application methods of cutting fluids and precautions that should be observed by the operator.

The selection of surface treatments for copper and copper alloys is generally based on application requirements for appearance and corrosion resistance. This article describes cleaning, finishing, and coating processes for copper and copper alloys. These processes include pickling and bright dipping, abrasive blast cleaning, chemical and electrochemical cleaning, mass finishing, polishing and buffing, electroless plating, immersion plating, electroplating, passivation, coloring, and organic coatings.

This article provides an overview of the interfacial interactions with a lubricant film between a die and a metal, lubricant mechanisms, chemistry, qualification testing, application methods, and property test methods. It focuses on sheet metal-forming operations, although the discussions are relevant to metal-forming operations in general. The article also deals with lubricant selection as influenced by the metal to be formed and particular sheet-metal forming operations. The article also discusses some aspects of microbiology and toxicity in lubricants.

This article provides background information on the chemistry, coating properties, resin types, applications techniques, and performance characteristics of fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE) resins. It describes the formulation methods of FEVE resins, namely, solvent-based coating formulations, water-based coating formulations, and powder coating formulations. The basic concerns to be addressed when formulating and using FEVE coatings are also discussed. The article concludes with a section on health and related safety regulations.

Surface treatments are applied to magnesium parts primarily to improve their appearance and corrosion resistance. Mechanical and chemical cleaning methods are used singly or in combination, depending on the specific application and product involved to ensure repetitive reliability. This article focuses on mechanical finishing methods, namely, barrel tumbling, polishing, buffing, vibratory finishing, fiber brushing, and shot blasting. It provides useful information on process control and difficulties with chemical and anodic treatments of magnesium alloys. The use and applications of plating and organic finishing of magnesium alloys are also reviewed. The article concludes with a description of health and safety precautions to be followed during the surface treatment process.

This article discusses surface engineering of nonferrous metals including aluminum and aluminum alloys, copper and copper alloys, magnesium alloys, nickel and nickel alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, zirconium and hafnium, zinc alloys, and refractory metals and alloys. It describes various techniques to improve functional surface properties and enhance the appearance of product forms. The article discusses various cleaning and finishing techniques such as abrasive blast cleaning, polishing and buffing, barrel burnishing, chemical cleaning, pickling, etching and bright dipping, electrochemical cleaning, mechanical cleaning, and mass finishing. It also examines coating processes such as plating, anodizing, chemical conversion coating, and thermal spray, and concludes with a discussion on oxidation-resistant coatings for refractory metals.

This article describes the methods for removing metallic contaminants, tarnish, and scale resulting from hot-working or heat-treating operations on nickel-, cobalt-, and iron-base heat-resistant alloys. It provides a brief description of applicable finishing and coating processes, including polishing, electroplating, ceramic coatings, diffusion coatings, and shot-peening. The article presents numerous examples that identify cleaning and finishing problems and the procedures used to solve them.

This article describes the eight chemical cleaning methods, namely, circulation, fill and soak, cascade, foam, vapor-phase organic, steam-injected, on-line chemical, and mechanical cleaning. It presents information on deposit types, solvents used to remove them, and construction material incompatibilities in a table. The article summarizes the uses of chemical cleaning solutions, including hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, and sulfamic acid, as well as the additives used to neutralize their impact on corrosion. It discusses the chemical cleaning procedures, including selection of cleaning method and solvent, documentation of cleaning, and corrosion monitoring in chemical cleaning.

A wide variety of stop-off technologies for heat treatment are used to selectively prevent the diffusion of carbon and/or nitrogen during atmosphere carburizing, carbonitriding, vacuum carburizing, and various forms of nitriding. In addition to selective stop-off, technologies are also available for scale prevention in open-fired furnaces. This article describes two stop-off technologies, mechanical masking and copper plating, along with stop-off paints/compounds. Prior to the application of stop-off paints, the part surface of the furnaces should be properly cleaned and dried. The article also describes the usage of stop-off paints in different heat treating processes, namely, carburizing and carbonitriding, deep carburizing, vacuum carburizing, nitriding and nitrocarburizing, and plasma nitriding. The article concludes by reviewing the application methods of stop-off paints: brushing, dipping, dispensing, spraying and stamping.

Babbitting is a process by which relatively soft metals are bonded chemically or mechanically to a stronger shell or stiffener which supports the weight and torsion of a rotating, oscillating, or sliding shaft. This article focuses on workpiece preparation and babbitting methods. Prior to casting, the workpiece must be scrupulously prepared by various cleaning, fluxing, and tinning steps. Babbitting of bearing shells can be accomplished by three methods, namely, static babbitting, centrifugal casting, and metal spray babbitting.

This article discusses coating products available for use in the aerospace industry that are compliant with regulations requiring reductions in emissions from organic solvents. The coating products addressed include primers, topcoats, and chemical milling maskants. It describes their characteristics and limitations compared to conventional noncompliant materials. The article addresses the methods and products commonly used achieve regulatory compliance: waterborne coatings, exempt-solvent-based coatings, high-solids coatings, powder coating, and electro-deposition.

Painting is a generic term for the application of a thin organic coating to the surface of a material for decorative, protective, or functional purposes. This article provides a detailed account of the types and selection factors of paints and the various application methods, including conventional air atomized, airless, and electrostatic spray; roller coating; dip coating; flow coating; curtain coating; tumble coating; electrocoating; and powder coating. Surface preparation methods and prepaint treatments for coating systems are also discussed. The article includes information on quality control procedures, causes of paint film defects, cost calculation, and safety and environmental precautions. The composition and characteristics of organic coatings, coating system selection factors, the types of paints for structural steel, and the applications of paint on structural steel are also reviewed.