The Challenge of Thickness Variation in Plating and

Anodizing
21 March 2012
Leslie W. Flott, Ph.B., CQE, ASQ Fellow,

Metal Finishing columnist Leslie Flott discusses the critical role that coating thickness
plays in product quality and process/cost control.

Thickness variations are a reality in any plating and anodizing operation. Most
specifications merely require that a minimum thickness be deposited on any given part.

Design engineers specific thicknesses for various reasons, including cost, function and
decoration. (Cost will be discussed later.) Function minimums are required for a specific
reason, such as the need to carry power, or, in the case of anodizing, wear resistance
or the ability to absorb dye. Decorative thicknesses are usually selected for a specific
effect. Base materials may be steel, aluminum, plastic, or copper or zinc alloys.

Dependant on the part size and shape, plating thickness will vary. The resulting
differences may be as little as 0.1 mil in excess of thickness requirement, or they can be
several times the minimum specified.

Take, for example, a component that is complex in design and includes recessed areas.
Flat surfaces are easy to plate, but recessed areas present a challenge. The flat
surfaces, and recesses create low and high current density zones, resulting in thicker or
thinner plating on the same part. The component—a gear wheel, for example—may
require a plating thickness of 1.5 mils overall, but on high current density areas, the
thickness of the plated metal may exceed 8.0 mils. Even if the excess thickness doesn’t
cause a problem, it nevertheless represents a waste of plating energy, time, raw
material and costs money.

A flat part, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), has few recesses and usually much
less plating thickness variation, but its design and shape present other problems.
Plating thickness on trace heights, isolated component pads and blind holes on different
areas of the part can vary so significantly that it creates functional problems with current
carrying capability, impedance matching, solder mask application and the assembly of
components.

Anyone who has been in the electroplating business for more than a few months is well
aware that finishing metal parts costs money. It doesn’t matter what metal is being
plated onto a given substrate. The situation is further complicated by the fact that most
finishing specifications are open-ended. This means that the specs generally only
require a minimum of plating or anodizing. This leaves the metal finishing shop with the
question of how to manage costs.
Take MIL-G-45204 as an example of a specification. The spec requires 99.7% gold min
and 0.00002 min thickness to satisfy the requirements of Type I, Class OO. Certainly,
the plating shop can assure that the minimum thickness is applied to all surfaces, but it
is not that simple. The problem is solvable by applying 0.0004” or 0.0005” gold. That
should pretty well assure that the 0.0002” minimum is met everywhere but at what cost?
The market price of gold is over “1700.00 an ounce, so adding twice the minimum costs
big dollars.

This might seem like an extreme example, but the same thing is true for every metal
that is being plated. Even then, it is not that simple.

THROW AND THE ¾ INCH RULE

Plating uniformly into corners and other tight places is not just difficult; it is often not
possible. Even where plating is deposited into recesses, it is generally much thinner in
the recess or corner than it is on a flat surface. The plating typically thins in the final ¾
inch as the corner is approached. A thickness of 0.0002" at a distance of one inch from
the corner may well result in 0.0000050" or less in the corner. Additionally, not all plating
baths deposit with the same efficiency. “Throw” is the phenomenon of depositing or
plating metals. The more difficult any metal throws, the more difficulty there will be in
throwing into corners and recesses. In fact, many plating specifications include what is
called the “¾ inch rule.” Simply stated, the rule says that the thickness requirements do
not normally apply to any area of the part being plated that cannot be touched with a ¾
inch diameter ball, or the metric equivalent.

The formal definition of throw is, “the improvement of the coating (usually metal)
distribution over the current distribution on an electrode (usually the cathode) in a given
solution, under specific conditions.” The term is also used for anodic processes
(anodizing) for which the definition is analogous.

In Figure 1, the area shown in gray will not plate as heavily as on flat surfaces. In this
case, the ¾ inch rule applies. The corners are like a building protected by a lightning
rod. The rod, or any sharp edge that can conduct the lightening to ground, attracts the
electrical charges to metal so they do not harm the building. The same phenomenon
results in less plating in the corners or other recesses. The result is called a “Faraday
Cage.” In essence, the projections act very much like a lightning rod, drawing the
current away from the tight inside corners.

The same problem exists for holes (see Figure 2), both those going completely through
the part and blind holes. Typically, plating will throw approximately 1 ½ times the
diameter of the hole. Again, chrome is especially hard to throw into holes. Chrome may
only throw ½ the diameter into the hole, while tin and zinc will throw slightly better that 1
½ diameters.

The problem is not without possible cure, however. The simple fact is, if the customer
insists and is willing to pay the difference the parts can be plated using conforming
anodes. This will commonly increase the plating cost by as much as 10 to 100 times the
original cost, depending on the part topology and therefore seldom request it.

THE RULE OF FOUR AND SIX

Another rule that affects not just plating cost but effectiveness as well is what is called
“The Rule of Four and Six, found in many specs. The reader should understand that this
is not a hard and fast rule supported by rigorous mathematics, but is rather an empirical
rule, derived from experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or
theory. Still, I have found this rule a good one to use when considering how much
plating should be applied to external screws, bolts, and even hydraulic fittings.

Simply stated, the Rule of 4 and 6 says that the plating that is deposited on the major
diameter of a screw or bolt will be about six times greater that that applied to the flat
surface. Likewise, the plating applied to the pitch diameter will be four times that applied
to the flat surface.

As a matter of fact, the thickness on the major and pitch diameters are not really
arbitrary; rather, they are the result of how much plating is applied to flat areas of the
screw, bolt, or even threaded fittings. The way to arrive at the desired thickness is to
take into account the tolerance of the particular thread.

Given a tolerance of 0.0016" for a specific part the most that should be applied to the
flat is .1667 % of the tolerance or 0.00026".

Plating Concern for Threads

Special considerations are necessary when using plating processes that add material
thickness to screw threads. These processes include electroplating of zinc, chrome and
cadmium as well as electroless nickel and many others. Processes such as black oxide
coating, which transforms the surface but does not add significant thickness to the
surface require no special attention.

Some authors write that plating will build up the thickness of an thread pitch diameter at
as much as eight times the actual plating thickness. The major diameter will build up at
two times the actual plating thickness (See Table 1). Another factor that complicates
plating of threads is that some threaded parts are often very long and thin.
Electroplating processes, because of higher electric currents at the ends of these parts,
will deposit thicker coatings at the ends. A thickness of .0002 may be measured in the
middle of a screw shaft while the ends measure .0004 on parts only 10 diameters in
length. On longer parts, the difference can be even greater. If a screw and mating nut
are both plated, fit-up problems can be expected.

One way to work around this build-up problem is to use special undersized, pre-plated
thread sizes. This may be impractical, because, it can require special tooling and
gauging.
Another consideration when evaluating plating is wear. The first level of wear on a
plated part will be the plating itself. Once the plating has worn away, bare metal is
exposed to the environment. Since Acme screws often “wear-in” much like plain
bearings, bare metal can be exposed rather quickly depending upon the loading, duty
cycle and lubrication present.

For very long parts, and parts in critical applications, use of stainless steel screws is
often the best solution. No special sizing is required and after wear-in the exposed
metal still provides corrosion protection for the application.

Coating thickness is an important variable that plays a role in product quality, process
control, and cost control. Measurement of film thickness can be done with many
different instruments. Understanding the equipment that is available for film thickness
measurement and how to use it is useful to every coating operation.

Table 1. Approximate Plating Size

Changes for Screws

Major Pitch
Plating
Diameter Diameter
Thickness
Increase Increase

0.0001 0.0002 0.0008

0.0002 0.0004 0.0016
0.0004 0.0008 0.0032
0.0005 0.0010 0.0040
Figure 1. The 3/4” Rule
0.0010 0.0020 0.0080
0.0020 0.0040 0.0160
0.0030 0.0060 0.0240

Figure 2. Illustration of throw into blind and through holes. Figure 3. Screw Thread Terminology
“Y” indicates the depth that the plating will throw, about one
and one-half time the diameter of the hole.

BIO
Leslie W. Flott, Ph.B., CQE, ASQ Fellow, is certified as an IDEM Wastewater Treatment
Operator and Indiana Wastewater Treatment Operator. He received his Bachelor of
Science Degree in Chemistry from Northwestern University and his Masters Degree in
materials engineering from Notre Dame University. Most recently, Flott served as the
environmental program director and instructor at Ivy Tech Community College. Prior to
that, he was the health, environment, and safety manager at Wayne Metal Protection
Company.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN AVERAGE, RANGE OR MINIMUM

PLATING THICKNESS SPECIFICATION AND HOW DO I PROPERLY CALL OUT MY
THICKNESS REQUIREMENT ON A PRINT?

There are five (5) methods most commonly used for defining plating thicknesses. They
are average, range, minimum, maximum and customer negotiated. The differences
between each are very distinct. The definition of each is provided below:

Average

An Average deposit thickness requirement is given as a single number i.e. “nickel plate
0.0002”.” An Average deposit thickness provides the target that the mean of multiple
thickness readings should be within a 75uin window. In the example given this would
be 0.0002” ± 0.000075” (200±75uin). However, it is at the plater’s discretion to choose
the location where to measure the product unless the measuring location is indicated on
the print. This is a very important distinction as the plating thickness on electroplated
products can vary considerably from point to point. The thickness distribution is heavily
dependent on part geometry. On products that are drawn out such as rods or pins there
can be an extremely wide range of thickness. However, the thickness distribution can
be quite minimal on spherical products such as ball bearings.

Range

A Range deposit thickness requirement is given as a range of numbers i.e. “nickel plate
0.0001-0.0003”.” The range provided is the range within which the mean of the
thickness measurements must lie. Similarly to Average thicknesses, it is at the plater’s
discretion where to measure the product unless the measuring location is indicated on
the print. If the range is ≤ 0.00015” (150uin) it is treated as a single average with the
mid point of the range being the target average and the definition of average thickness
above applies.

Note: A range specification does not imply that all readings collected on all articles at
any location must be within the range. This is only designated by Minimum and
Maximum thickness requirements defined below.
Minimum

A Minimum deposit thickness requirement is identified with a single number with the
word minimum i.e. “nickel plate 0.0002” minimum or min.” A Minimum thickness
requirement is defined as all readings measured on the significant surfaces must be
greater than the thickness indicated. In the example provided the thickness measured
on any significant surface would have to be greater than 0.0002” (200uin). Significant
surfaces are generally defined as any portion of a part that can be touched by a 0.75”
diameter sphere. However, the manufacturer of a product can identify significant
surfaces as required on the blueprint of the product.

Note: There is no upper limit of thickness that applies in this definition.

Maximum

A Maximum deposit thickness requirement is given as a single number with the word
maximum i.e. “nickel plate 0.0002” maximum or max.” A Maximum thickness
requirement is defined as all readings measured on significant surfaces must be less
than the thickness indicated. In the example provided the thickness measured on any
significant surface would have to be less than 0.0002” (200uin). If a significant surface
is not defined all readings shall be less than 0.0002” (200uin) on any area of the part
that can be touched by a 0.75” diameter sphere.

Note: There is no lower limit of thickness that applies in this definition. Any measurable
deposit thickness is acceptable.

Customer Negotiated Specifications

When a customer has a defined specification or sites commonly referenced

specifications i.e. ASTM, MIL, AMS etc. they shall be followed unless both the
specification and thickness requirement are provide on the print. In this case, the
thickness otherwise specified on the print supersedes the spec referenced. For
example, specification QQ-N-290 requires minimum plating thickness requirements
based on the grade of the plating (i.e. in QQ-N-290 Grade G is 0.0002” Minimum).
However, if a customer were to indicate on a print, “Nickel Plate per QQ-N-290
0.0001”-0.0003”,” this is understood as a range plating thickness requirement because
the customer has otherwise specified the thickness desired without indicating the grade.
If a customer desires the thicknesses defined within the spec, the specific grades
should be cited, i.e. “Nickel Plate per QQ-N-290, Grade G.”
Customer-unique specifications can always be developed based on the wishes of our
customers but they must be known upfront. Unique specifications developed by a
customer will be referenced on the appropriate process routing instructions and will be
inspected to accordingly. This document will be the ruling document as to significant
surfaces, thickness interpretation and target thicknesses desired.