Chemical etching (also known as ‘photochemical etching’ and ‘chemical milling’) is a process for milling sheet metal using corrosive chemicals to selectively etch in specified areas. A number of manufacturing steps makeup the etching process, each requiring precise controls to produce a quality product.
As an overview, the chemical etching process can be broken down into the following key steps:
Chemical etching offers a number of advantages over mechanical machining including:
Heatric’s Langley Drive site is the largest chemical etching facility in the world (by volume of material removed). The facility utilises a range of dedicated equipment for chemical storage, cleaning, etching, and printing. Heatric’s capabilities allow etching of sheets in sizes up to 1500 x 600 x 3mm to etch depths of 2.5mm (and potentially deeper). Materials that can be etched include stainless steels (316L, 304L, Duplex) high nickel alloys and exotic materials such as 617.
For more information on Heatric’s chemical etching process, and to find out how Heatric’s expertise can support your project, send a message directly through the enquiry page or call Heatric on:
+44 (0) 1202 627 000
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Heatric, a division of Meggitt (UK) Limited, design and manufacture bespoke heat transfer solutions for selected energy markets. A world leader in heat exchanger technology, Heatric have produced over 2500 PCHEs for operation in extreme environments across the globe, for both existing and emerging energy markets.