June 22, 2011 - Souriau adds Zinc Nickel protection to micro38999 series miniature circular connectors. This gives three key advantages: harsh environments, specifications in line with a military standard, and an environmentally friendly RoHS protection.
Up to now, cadmium was the most widely used surface coating for connectors and accessories complying with standard MIL-DTL-38999 in military applications. To replace it with more environmentally-friendly solutions, Souriau has industrialized and qualified its electrolytic Zinc Nickel plating process.
Zinc Nickel galvanic protection is the solution to replace Cadmium; this type of coating is clearly the best choice to solve the equation: Electrical continuity, resistance to salt spray, numbers of operating sequences, and RoHS compliance, while remaining suitable and available for mass production. Zinc Nickel plating also has the advantage of being backed up by a recognized standard (American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM B841 for Zinc Nickel).
With its Zinc Nickel coating, the micro38999 inherits the tried and tested galvanic protection used on the MIL-DTL-38999 Series III to enable it to meet future miniature applications while complying with the latest government restrictions.
Zinc Nickel protection is applied using an established electrolytic process that enables control of the coating's homogeneity and quality while it is being applied. This protection is based on an ASTM standard and its implementation with standard surface treatment baths ensures fast plating while minimizing bath replacement frequencies. The absence of non-putrescible residues (such as fluorine) on the connectors and in the baths helps to make the Souriau Zinc Nickel protection an alternative that respects the environment and helps to protect user health.
The Zinc Nickel coating is 100% metallic and contains no fluorinated substances that could be banned under restrictions applied by the environmental protection agencies, as part of their drive to reduce future levels of use of carcinogenic plastic substances in industrial products and processes. The procedure benefits from potential multi-sourcing to ensure a long service life for coatings that are to be integrated in military equipment for several decades, in Europe and the USA alike. Last but not least, as the electrochemical potential of Zinc Nickel is very close to that of Cadmium, progressive introduction of micro38999 Zinc Nickel plated parts in harnesses or equipment is also possible.
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