The process of phosphorous bronze etching is a complex process of etching for the complex components in the industries. Bronze is a tough alloy that has high tensile strength and low coefficient of friction. It is a compact alloy that has the fine and smooth grain structure. The use of the phosphorous bronze chemical etching is mostly in the myriad industry.
This article will provide you the information about process of chemical etching of phosphorous bronze. It will also describe the process steps and possible applications of this process in the myriad industry.
The process of chemical bronze etching is helpful in the production of the metal parts that can bear the harsh environments. These metal parts are equally helpful in the indoor as well as outdoor purposes. We use an acid in this process for the creation of the specific parts according to our project specifications. This specific acid is Ferric chloride solution.
Bronze is not an exclusive metal. But it is a combination of three metals that combine in the form of an alloy. So, bronze is a mixture of copper, tin and phosphorous. In this mixture, tin is almost 11% and phosphorous is almost 0.35% in quantity. The remaining part is copper except these two metals.
Tin is helpful in increasing the corrosion resistance and strength of the material alloy. While the percentage of phosphorous in the alloy is helpful in increasing the wear resistance of stiffness of the material. In this way, these two metals mix with copper and improve the characteristic features of the metal in the form of alloy.
Phosphorous bronze has many specific and advantageous characteristics that are helpful and suitable for the bronze etching. These characteristics are as follows:
Phosphorous bronze is an important alloy that has the tremendous use in the creation of different components. These uses and applications are important in the myriad industries. These industries include the electronics, communication and automobile industry. However, we can change the properties of the alloy by changing the levels of phosphorous and tin.
The change in the percentage of tin varies the tensile strength and corrosion resistance of the material. While the change in the percentage of phosphorous can vary the resistance to wear and stiffness of the material suited for bronze etching. The common applications and uses of bronze are as follows.
Phosphorous bronze has many distinguishing features. Bronze is an environment friendly alloy and it does not have any harmful component. Moreover, phosphorous bronze is available in a variety of standard alloys in the market. These standard alloys are non-ferrous spring alloys, free-machining alloys, Phosphor Bronze, and Bearing Bronze.
If we increase the phosphorous content of the alloy, it increases the brittleness of the alloy. However, this high phosphorous containing alloy has narrow range of the applications. By increasing the phosphorous, we obtain a new compound that is copper phosphide. The formula of copper phosphide is Cu3P.
The addition of the phosphorous in the alloy also has some advantages. The phosphorous in the alloy decreases the viscosity of the molten alloy. This decrease in the viscosity is helpful in the casting purposes. Therefore, the process of casting becomes easy and cleaner. Additionally, it also decreases the grain boundaries of the alloy.
The bronze chemical etching has many advantages that the acid etching does not have. These advantages of chemical bronze etching over the acid etching are of the prime importance in the process of etching. It does not use the pure acid. Thus, there is no need to dilute the acid. Therefore, this process of chemical etching is not as much dangerous.
The resists that are essential in this process are very easy to use. Moreover, these resists are available to use easily and readily. The working of the chemical etching process is fast and cleaner as compared to the acid etching. The easily available resist are the permanent markers that have the use in the writing purposes on the plastic. So, it can also write directly on metal surface.
There is a particular method for the chemical etching of bronze alloy. There are certain steps in this method.
First of all, clean the bronze alloy. There should be no grease or scratches on the surface of the alloy. There should be slight tooth in the final finish of the alloy. However, the deep scratches in the alloy allow the ink to go deep in the surface. If we rub or scrub the surface with the metal brush, we can get an ideal finish.
In the next step of bronze etching, draw on the surface of the alloy with the help of a pen. The pens for the writing purposes come in a variety of the shapes and thickness. However, the pen with the wide and fine pin is best for this purpose. The ink on the surface of the metal alloy produces the resistance for the etching process.
The use of the brown packing tape is more helpful as compared to the ink. It resists the etchant on the surface of metal alloy. However, it can last for the longer period as compared to the ink. The use of the clear tape is significantly important in the formation of the geometric shapes. You can stick the tape with the clear glass and cut out the geometric shapes with the help of a knife.
In the next step of bronze etching, the use of the tan tape is important for the protection of the metal alloy. You can stick the tan tape on the edges and back side of the metal alloy. This process helps in the protection of the back and edges of metal alloy from the ink. In addition, it is also helpful in saving the large amount of ink.
Now you can put the etchant in the container of plastic or glass. After that, put the piece in the etchant with the side of design facing downward. Now agitate the etchant solution by knocking the edge of the container.
