(1) Purpose of use of plating
The choice of stainless steel strip coated metal should consider the purpose of the coating. As a protective coating, the coated metal must have good corrosion resistance in the intended use environment, such as galvanized steel parts under general atmospheric conditions, cadmium plated parts under marine atmospheric conditions, tin-plated cans, etc. As a protective decorative coating, the surface metal should have an aesthetically pleasing appearance and a long-lasting luster, such as the widely used chrome sleeve.
As a functional coating, the coated metal should have the required functions, such as silver or copper for conductive coatings, chromium (hard chrome) or nickel for wear-resistant coatings, tin or tin-lead alloys for solderable coatings, etc. Obviously, parts with functional coatings are also used in corrosive environments, therefore, corrosive behavior in service environments should also be considered.
(2) Material compatibility
When selecting the coated metal or several multi-layer coated metals, the compatibility of the coated metal with the base metal and several coated metals should also be considered, so that the potential between the plates in contact with each other on the surface of the stainless steel strip is as close as possible to avoid causing large galvanic corrosion. In protective plating, the plating layer is usually used to coat the base metal, or the upper layer is used to coat the cathodic protection provided by the plating layer.
