Electroplating is the process of applying a metal coating on another piece of metal (or another conductive surface) through an electro-deposition process. In electroplating, the deposited metal becomes part of the existing product with the plating/coating. 

What is electroplating

In Electroplating, both an anode and a cathode (the metal part to be coated) are immersed in an electrolytic bath that is composed of a solution of salts, including the metal to be plated. A direct current (DC) of electricity is passed through the solution, effecting the transfer of metal ions onto the cathodic surface, plating the metal onto the item.

The code of electropating

When we talk about the identification of self-clinching fasteners, the suffix codes of surface treatment are mentioned, these codes represent the type of electroplating on the surface.

Followed we have statistics of some common surface tread methods commonly used in fasteners: