ONLINE DETERMINATION OF CHROMIUM THICKNESS DURING PLATING

A new system that enables the plater to detect the thickness and the r ate of application of chromium during vessel plating of steel tubes, h as been designed and developed. This system provides a continuous comp uter display of thickness, rate of deposition and temperature at six d ifferent points of the tube during the plating process, with a thickne ss measurement resolution of 2.5 mum and an accuracy of about 7.5 mum. Prior to development of th is system, this information could be obtai ned only after the process was finished and the specimens were cooled, cleaned and dried. The system can be used to control process paramete rs, such as the rate of flow of liquid or the temperature of the solut ion.