What Is Stainless Steel Etching And How It Is Done?

The process of stainless steel etching is the process of subtractive machining of metal in which chemical etchant is used to create highly accurate and complicated designs of metallic parts or components. As compared to laser cutting, water jet cutting and stamping, etching is a very cost effective method to cut stainless steel up to 1.5 mm thickness.
How to etch stainless steel?
The process of chemical etching of stainless steel is quick and cost effective regardless of the size of the batch. Many European companies involved in etching stainless steel components are leading this industry as they supply millions of components etched by them every month throughout the world.
Suitable materials required for etching stainless steel
For chemical etching companies use hard grade stainless steel hardened through austenitic, ferritic, duplex, precipitation and martensitic processes. They also machine this special grade stainless steel to make it according to the steels supplied by their customers. The materials used for etching stainless steel components may include:
Mild low carbon steel of all gradesMaraging steel of all gradesElectrical steel of Transil gradeUddeholmstrip flapper valve steel of 20C, 716 gradeSandvik strip steel of Chromflex (7C27Mo2, 13C26, 12C27, 6C27) and Hiflex gradeStainless steel of ferritic/martensitic (400 series), precipitation hardened (17-4, 17-7), duplex, super duplex and Austenitic (300 series)High carbon spring steel of all grades
Benefits of chemical etching of stainless steel
Optimization of design without bearing financial losses: The etching is a low cost and quick process for the optimization of a design without any risk as digital tools are used for this purpose
Offers stress-free, burr-free and accurate, complex components: While etching stainless steel no heating or mechanical process is used that can affect the features and properties of the metal used. The parts produced will be free from all types of burrs and stresses.
Complications without any additional cost: The features of the components can be machined simultaneously after etching them so that complications can be removed without wasting time. The standard accuracy of etching stainless steel components is up to +/- 0.025mm.
Applications for which etching of stainless steel is used
Stainless steel etching can be used to increase the flexibility of critical safety flexures and springs used in ABS braking, satellites, fuel injection and biosensors to millions of times as the strength, fatigue, flatness and recoil of the steel used in springs does not change after chemical etching. It can also be used for economical high volume production of micro filters that can resist corrosion and used in insect meshes and showerheads as they have to pay cost for making first hole in the chemical etching process. It can also be used for the interior trim applications of premium automotives like tread plates, speaker grilles, inlays and badges as the finish of the stainless steel surface does not changes during its chemical etching.
Thus, chemical stainless steel etching offers several benefits to many industries. If you are searching for a company providing etching service for stainless steel components then you can contact us at https://www.qualitetch.com/.