Chemical Newtech - Steelcord Plating for Tyres
The metallic weaving of the tyres for automotive is composed by steel wires covered with a layer of Brass, to make it compatible with the rubber’s vulcanization. The Brass is created depositing galvanically a layer of copper and zinc on stainless steel wire reels which are then thermally treated to form the copper-zinc alloy and that is Brass. The wires quickly go through the galvanic copper plating and zinc plating baths with sulphates and sulphuric acid, under cathodic polarisation, between two soluble anodes, which could be of copper or zinc. Since a few years ago the use of insoluble anodes has been preferred, as they don’t require any maintenance, unlike the soluble anodes which need to be replaced often because of an uneven consumption which compromises the regular shape and therefore the current distribution.
Therefore the activated Titanium anode has been widely introduced, especially in the zinc plating baths, where it’s simpler to reintegrate the zinc used. Although recently some manufacturers also use these anodes in the (acid) copper plating bath adding Copper Oxide to reintegrate the solution.
Chemical Newtech manufactures these kinds of anodes with a coating that is now tested for this use, according to the client’s drawing or it proposes construction’s solutions according to the different needs.