Introduction
Tin is a silver-colored, ductile metal whose major application is to impart solderability to otherwise unsolderable base metals. Tin has generally good covering characteristics over a wide range of shapes.
Main Application / Advantages
- The tin-plating process is used extensively to protect both ferrous and non-ferrous surfaces. Tin is a useful metal for the food processing industry since it is non-toxic, ductile and corrosion resistant. The excellent ductility of tin allows a tin-coated base metal sheet to be formed into a variety of shapes without damage to the surface tin layer. It provides sacrificial protection for copper, nickel and other non-ferrous metals, but not for steel.
- Tin is also widely used in the electronics industry because of its ability to protect the base metal from oxidation, thus preserving its solderability. In electronic applications, lead may be added to prevent the growth of metallic "whiskers" in compression stressed deposits, which would otherwise cause electrical shorting.
Generic Process Flow
