21 Types of Surface Treatment Process

How many surface treatment processes do you know or have been exposed to? Don’t worry, I will share 21 types today, and the moving pictures will help us understand.

1. Micro-arc Oxidation

Micro-arc Oxidation

Micro-arc oxidation, also known as micro-plasma oxidation, is a combination of electrolyte and corresponding electrical parameters.

On the surface of aluminum, magnesium, titanium and their alloys, a ceramic film mainly composed of a base metal oxide is grown by the instantaneous high-temperature and high-pressure effect produced by arc discharge.

2. Metal Wire-drawing

Metal Wire-drawing

Metal wire-drawing is a surface treatment method for forming decorative lines on the surface of a workpiece by grinding products.

3. Bluing

Bluing Bluing

Bluing is to fill the whole carcass with color glaze and then burn it in a blast furnace with a furnace temperature of about 800 ° C.

The color glaze is melted from the sandy granular solid into a liquid, and after cooling, it becomes a gorgeous color glaze fixed on the carcass.

At this time, the color glaze is lower than the height of the copper wire, so the color glaze must be filled again.

Then sinter, it is generally continuous four or five times until the pattern is filled to be the same level with the wiry pattern.

4. Shot blasting

Shot blasting Shot blasting

Shot blasting is a cold working process that uses pellets to bombard the surface of the workpiece and implant residual compressive stress to improve the fatigue strength of the workpiece.

5. Sand blasting

Sand blasting

Sand blasting is the process of cleaning and roughening the substrate surface by the impact of high-speed sand flow. That is, compressed air is used as the power to form a high-speed jet beam to spray the blasting material (copper ore sand, quartz sand, corundum, iron sand, Hainan sand) at a high speed onto the surface of the workpiece to be processed, so that the appearance or shape of the workpiece surface changes.

6. Etching


Etching is the technique of removing material by using a chemical reaction or physical impact. Generally speaking, the etching is also called photochemical etching, which refers to removing the protective film of the area to be etched after exposure to plate and development, and contacting the chemical solution during etching to achieve the effect of dissolving and corroding, forming unevenness or hollow molding.

7. In-Mold Decoration

In-Mold Decoration In-Mold Decoration

IMD, In-Mold Decoration, also known as painting-free technology. t is an internationally popular surface decoration technology.

The surface hardened transparent film, the middle printed pattern layer, the injection layer sticked on the back, and the middle of the ink can make the product resistant to friction, prevent the surface from being scratched, and keep the color bright and difficult to fade for a long time.

8. Out Mold Decoration

Out Mold Decoration

Out Mold Decoration, which is a visual, tactile, and functional integration display.

IMD’s extended decoration technology is a 3D surface decoration technology combining printing, texture structure and metallization characteristics.

9. Laser carving

Laser carving

Laser carving, also called laser engraving or laser marking, is a process of surface treatment using optical principles. Laser beams are used to engrave permanent marks on the surface of objects or inside transparent materials.

10. EDM


Electrical discharge machining is a special processing method that uses electro-etching to remove conductive materials during pulse discharge between two electrodes immersed in a working fluid.

Tool electrodes are commonly used in electrical corrosion-resistant materials with good conductivity, high melting point, and easy processing, such as copper, graphite, copper-tungsten alloy, and molybdenum.

During the machining process, the tool electrode is also worn, but it is less than the amount of metal removed by the workpiece, and is even close to no loss.

11. Laser texturing

Laser texturing

Laser texturing uses high energy density laser to react with steel surface to form snake skin, etching, pear field or other forms of lines.

12. Pad printing

Pad printing

Pad printing is one of the special printing methods, that is, a curved pad made of silicon (or copper, thermoplastic) gravure and a silicone rubber material.

Dip the ink on the gravure to the surface of the pad, and then press on the surface of the desired object to print the text, patterns, etc.

13. Screen printing

Screen printing

Screen printing is to bind silk fabrics, synthetic fiber fabrics or metal screens to screen frames, and use hand-painted film or photochemical plate-making methods to make screen printing plates.

Modern screen printing technology is to use a photosensitive material to make screen printing plates by photoengraving (Make the screen holes in the graphic part of the screen plate through holes, and block the screen holes in the non-text part).

When printing, the ink is transferred to the substrate through the mesh of the graphic part through the squeezing of the blade to form the same graphic as the original.

14. Direct thermal printing

Direct thermal printing

Direct thermal printing refers to applying a heat sensitive agent to paper to make it a heat sensitive recording paper.

The thermal recording paper changes the physical or chemical properties of a substance (developing agent) under the action of heat to obtain an image.

15. Heat transfer printing

Heat transfer printing

The principle of heat transfer printing is to print a digital pattern through a printer and print it on a special transfer paper with a special transfer ink, and then use a special transfer machine to accurately transfer the pattern to the product surface at high temperature and pressure to complete the product printing.

16. Planography

Planography Planography

Since the graphic and non-graphic parts on the planography are on the same plane, in order to make the ink distinguish between the pattern part and the non-pattern part of the printing plate during printing, the principle of oil-water separation needs to be used.

First, the water supply device of the printing plate component supplies water to the non-graphic portion of the printing plate, thereby protecting the non-graphic portion of the printing plate from being wet by the ink. Then, the ink is supplied from the ink supply device of the printing component to the printing plate.

Because the non-graphic portion of the printing plate is protected by water, the ink can only be supplied to the graphic portion of the printing plate.

Finally, the ink on the printing plate is transferred to the milk skin, and the pressure between the rubber roller and the impression cylinder is used to transfer the ink on the milk skin to the substrate to complete a printing.

Therefore, planography is an indirect printing method.

17. Curved surface printing

Curved surface printing

For curved surface printing, the ink is placed in a gravure engraved with characters or patterns, and then the characters or patterns are copied onto the curved surface, and then the characters or patterns are transferred to the surface of the molded product by using the curved surface. Finally, the ink is cured by heat treatment or ultraviolet light irradiation.

18. Hot stamping

Hot stamping

Hot stamping refers to stamping the text and patterns of materials such as foil on the front or back cover of the hardcover book as well as the back of the book, or embossing various embossed book names or patterns by hot pressing.

19. Water transfer printing

Water transfer printing

Water transfer printing is a kind of printing that uses high pressure to hydrolyze the transfer paper or plastic film with color patterns. The processes include the production of water transfer printing paper, flower paper soaking, pattern transfer, etc. and finished products are drying.

20. Flat screen printing

Flat screen printing

The mold of flat screen printing is a polyester or nylon screen (flower plate) fixed on a square frame with a hollow pattern. The pattern part of the flower plate can be passed through by color paste, and the non-pattern part is closed with a polymer film layer.

During printing, the flower plate is pressed against the fabric, and the flower plate is filled with color paste, which is scraped back and forth with a scraper to make the color paste penetrate the pattern and reach the surface of the fabric.

21. Calendering


Calendering is the last process of finishing heavy leather. It is a finishing process that uses the plasticity of fibers under mixed heat conditions to flatten the fabric surface or roll out parallel fine oblique lines to improve the gloss of the fabric.

After the material is fed in, it is heated and melted, then formed into a sheet or film, finally, cooled and rolled up. The most commonly used calendering material is polyvinyl chloride.

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