Increase the corrosion resistance with passivation

Stainless steels are naturally corrosion resistant due to the presence of a very thin, continuous, transparent surface layer, or film, that forms on clean surfaces when exposed to the atmosphere or certain oxidizing conditions. Passivating the surface of the stainless steel in an acid mixture containing oxidizing agents improves and enhances the formation of this corrosion resistant layer.

At Apache, we recommend passivation as the final cleaning operation after all fabrication operations such as forming, welding, machining have been completed and after any mechanical cleaning operations.