Electropolishing with Circulated Electrolyte for Improving Surface Finish of Brass

Abstract

Electropolishing has been widely used for surface finishing of metallic products in the industry, owing to its excellent capability of producing metallic components with a homogeneously smooth surfaces. However, this treatment is often constrained by the long duration required for the processing. Therefore, an improvement in this process is needed. The aim of this research is to introduce the use of electropolishing with circulated electrolytes for improving the surface finish of brass. In this work, electropolishing was carried out by using circulated H2SO4 electrolyte for 10 to 30 min in a customized electropolishing chamber. The effect of this treatment on surface morphology, surface roughness, and thickness reduction of the brass specimen was determined. The results showed a better capability of electropolishing with circulated electrolyte in decreasing the brass roughness, i.e., by 84%, than that without electrolyte circulation which only reached 45% during 30 min of the treatment.