Methods to prevent premature corrosion of springs

We often use springs in our daily lives, but due to chemical and electrochemical reactions, the contact surface of the spring will be corroded to varying degrees, causing damage to the spring and affecting the functionality of the equipment. How should we avoid premature corrosion of the spring?

There are three anti-corrosion methods for spring: painting, oxidation, and electroplating. Their anti-corrosion principle is to form a protective layer on the surface of the Compression Spring, separating it from the outside world and achieving the purpose of anti-corrosion.

1. Painting: It is one of the main methods for anti-corrosion of spring by applying a layer of protective paint on the center of the spring surface. Mostly used in large and medium-sized spring. Especially hot formed spring and plate spring. The commonly used painting methods are spray painting and immersion painting. With the development of process technology, new processes such as electrostatic spraying will be promoted to improve work power, paint utilization, and paint quality.

2. Oxidation treatment: The oxidation treatment of spring is also known as bluing or blackening. After oxidation treatment, protective magnetic iron oxide is produced on the surface of the spring, with a thickness of about 0.6~2um. Due to the thin film and many open spaces, the protective ability is poor. Therefore, oxidation treatment can only be used for spring anti-corrosion in weakly corrosive media. Due to its low cost, simple process formula, high production power, and no impact on the characteristics of spring, oxidation treatment is widely used for surface anti-corrosion of cold formed small spring.

3. Electroplating: Electroplating is a useful method for obtaining a metal surface protective layer and is also the main method for anti-corrosion treatment of spring. Its characteristics are good adhesion of the coating, fine and tight crystallization, low porosity, uniform thickness, and outstanding physical, chemical, and mechanical functions. Electroplating includes galvanization, chromium plating, copper plating, tin plating, and nickel plating, with the most common application being galvanization. The galvanized surface of Irregular Springs is generally white or colorful. Zinc hardly changes in dry air. In humid air or water containing carbon dioxide, a white zinc oxide film can be produced, which can have a corrosion inhibition effect. Zinc plating is suitable for use under various atmospheric conditions, but its corrosion resistance is poor in aqueous solutions containing acids, alkalis, and salts, as well as in pure marine atmospheric conditions. The characteristics of galvanizing are beauty, low cost, simple process, and good effect, so it is widely used in the anti-corrosion of small and medium sized spring in the atmosphere.