Accidents happen. What Comes Next?: Using Electrochemical Brush Plating for a Sustainable Future

Brush plating is a form of electroplating used to enhance the surface of a metal or component. Brush plating was specifically designed to target localized areas without the use of an immersion tank allowing metals and metal alloys to be deposited on small areas of much larger surfaces with relatively little masking. The anode is wrapped in a plating solution-saturated, ionically conductive, but electrically insulating, flexible cover material and “brushed” along the part to be plated as current is applied. Plating solutions used for brush plating are more concentrated than typical tank electroplating solutions; combining that with constant movement of the anode against the plated surface allows for high current densities and high plating rates to be utilized.

Higher plating rates and targeted usage makes brush plating a key repair technique across many industries when metal surfaces become damaged or if a part has been mis-sized or mis-machined. The use of brush plating as a repair technique has and will save many parts from being scrapped in industries such as Aerospace, General Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Marine, etc. In addition, the equipment and material required to perform brush plating is small enough to be portable. Parts can often be repaired in place quickly without the need for disassembly or transportation to a shop.

This presentation will explain how the technique of electrochemical brush plating can be used to save damaged and/or mis-sized parts and equipment from being scrapped or replaced. The reduction of energy and resource use through the technique’s targeted nature will also be discussed. Finally, the presentation will reflect upon how the chemistry can be used in a sustainable way even as some of the chemicals themselves have become more regulated in the name of sustainability.