The vibration of plates is a special case of the more general problem of mechanical vibrations. Vibratory plating is another method of batch or bulk processing that employs vibration rather than a cylindrical barrel tumbling to plate. Also used for delicate parts, vibratory plating involves placing the parts in a basket equipped with metal buttons that also contain the electrolytic plating solution.
A generator is used to produce a vibrating action that causes the parts to move and make contact with the metal buttons. The movement of the parts can be adjusted by changing the amplitude and frequency of the pulse depending on the type of part being run. These contacts transfer current to a load of parts and provide very consistent amperage during processing.
Vibratory plating is typically the most expensive form of tin plating and requires a special drying process that may cause the parts to bend. Parts loaded into a vibratory head and once turned on, the motion generated provides smooth sliding of the parts and the workload is in continuous motion. By incorporating a vibrating or pulsating basket that transfers kinetic energy to the load, the parts move in a clockwise fashion across button contacts on the bottom of the basket.
Larger parts that have excessive weight or parts that can become entangled or easily nest together cannot be plated in a vibratory basket as they will not move in a uniform fashion. Conversely, smaller parts that do not have enough weight cannot be plated in a vibratory basket, either.
Vibratory plating is used for smaller parts that have deep internal diameters, counterbores, fragile tips/ends, or parts that could bend through barrel plating. The vibratory plate compactor is mainly used for the compaction of different types of soils in narrow and restricted areas where it is not possible or economical to use large compaction equipment. The different types of compaction equipment used in compaction projects depend on the scope of work. It is used for compaction of coarse soils with 4 to 8% fines. Compaction with the help of vibrations and impact is most effective when the soil is in noncohesive nature.
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