Anodizing is very popular in low-volume production of aluminum alloy models. It has two types, one is ordinary oxidation, and the other is hard oxidation. Hard oxidation, as its name implies, is a hardened oxidation treatment.

The main purpose of hard anodizing is to improve the various properties of aluminum alloy workpieces, including corrosion resistance, wear resistance, weather resistance, insulation and adsorption. The general requirements for hard oxide films are 25um to 150um. If the tolerance requirements are high, the tolerance of the inner hole should be controlled at about 1-3mm, so that the overall size of the prototype can be controlled within the original tolerance range.

Generally speaking, 50% of oxide film will be penetrated into the inside of product, and 50% is attached to the surface. Therefore, the shape will become larger and the inner hole will become smaller after oxidation. At this time, we need to reserve a margin to control the thickness of the oxide layer. And the margin is different between different prototypes, it depends on the type and characteristics of the surface treatment and customer requirements to make size reservations.

Only when the reserve is well done, can the thickness and accuracy of the product be controlled more accurately, and high-quality products can be produced. If you have low-volume production of products that need to be hard-oxidized, please contact us at  enquiry@nice-rapidtooling.com today!