Tawas Plating Co. & Tawas Powder Coating, Inc.

Case #1 - Electroless Nickel for Heavy Duty Off-Highway Wheel Hub

Electroless nickel for heavy duty off-highway wheel hubs

Customer:

Tier 2 heavy duty off-highway axle and transaxle supplier
Approached Tawas Plating via referral from a Global Tier 1 supplier who Tawas Plating Company has supplied for over 30 years.

The Product:

Heavy duty off-highway wheel hub assembly used in the construction and mining industries
Critical component for assembly of axles
Large and heavy component – 70 lbs.

Customer’s Problem:

Plant shut down due to missing critical component
Machining error that made a 3 month supply of wheel hub assemblies unusable
Chrome plating was attempted, but typically chrome deposit requires additional machining and added cost.
It would take 3 months to build replacement wheel hubs.
The bearing journal must built up to meet tight tolerance of +- .0005”

Our solution:

Salvage unusable hubs
Apply heavy build of .0025” to .004” low phosphorus electroless nickel plating
Design and build heavy-duty custom tooling and racks capable of holding 70lbs.
Precision mask to ensure precise plating placement and protect all other finished dimensions.
Lot and inventory control implemented for individual piece traceability

Why Electroless Nickel Was Required:

Ability to control plating deposit within +- .0005”.
Ability to mask off substrate surface that cannot receive plating deposition.
Eliminates the need for post plating machining.
Exceptional as plated deposit hardness (600-700 Hk)
Exceptional bond strength of deposit layer to substrate. (> 6500 PSI)

Why Choose Us:

Turnaround as quick as 24 hours allowed TPC to expedite delivery of hub assemblies, ensuring the plant could operate at capacity
Avoid pitting - TPC plating process eliminates this common plating problem associated with heavy build of electroless nickel.
TPC is able to plate large components that have complex geometries
TPC designed and developed custom heavy-duty tooling

Case #2 - Automotive: Electroless Nickel Plating for Wheel Differential Spiders

Wheel Differential Spiders are used to prevent vehicle spin-outs

electroless nickel plating – wheel differential spider

Customer problem:

Customer improvements to the ABS braking system mandated a more robust plating deposit for the ABS Sensor Ring. One that could provide superior corrosion resistance while withstanding the extreme temperatures generated during the use of the braking system.
Customer approached Tawas Plating as a single source vendor to provide the electroless nickel plating services based on previous plating work on other ABS Sensor Rings.

Tawas Plating Company solution:

Electroless Nickel plate the Wheel Differential Spiders to vastly improve their wear resistance and frictional characteristics
Tawas Plating designed and built the part fixtures
Tawas Plating performed PPAP and APQP on parts
Tawas Plating provided logistical support to meet demands of a high volume production schedule that began immediately after production launch date
Tawas Plating rapidly increased production from 400 per week to 4000 per week in 3 months
Number of parts currently being plated is approximately 200,000 per year
Program started in Jan 2008 and is currently in production

Customer benefits:

Electroless Nickel plating significantly reduced the number of spin out failure claims
Customer is asking Tawas Plating to quote their Electroless Nickel plating services for other parts

Case #3 - Heavy Truck: Electroless Nickel Plating for Semi Trailer ABS Sensor Rings

ABS Sensor Rings are an integral component of braking systems that utilize ABS technology to prevent wheel lock-up when the braking system is activated

electroless nickel plating – Antilock brake sensor rings

Customer problem:

Customer improvements to the ABS braking system mandated a more robust plating deposit for the ABS Sensor Ring. One that could provide superior corrosion resistance while withstanding the extreme temperatures generated during the use of the braking system.
Customer approached Tawas Plating as a single source vendor to provide the electroless nickel plating services based on previous plating work on other ABS Sensor Rings.

Tawas Plating Company solution:

Electroless Nickel plate the ABS Sensor Rings with a "duplex" EN coating to vastly improve their corrosion resistance and improve their thermal characteristics.
Tawas Plating designed and built the part fixtures.
Tawas Plating performed PPAP and APQP on the parts.
Tawas Plating provided logistical support to accommodate production launch date.
Current volume of ABS Sensor Rings being EN plated is 55,000 per year.
Program started in July 2008 and is currently in production.

Customer benefits:

Electroless Nickel plating met the customer's need for a coating that provided the thermal and corrosion characteristics required for the braking system.
Customer is asking Tawas Plating to quote their plating and powder coating services for other parts.