Anotec has introduced SurTec 650, adding a trivalent chromium passivation process for aluminium and aluminium alloy components used in demanding engineering sectors.
The treatment is aimed at applications where corrosion resistance, coating preparation, adhesive bonding, and compliance requirements have to be balanced within a controlled manufacturing route. Anotec, part of the Anochrome Group, is offering the service to support demand from OEMs and tier one suppliers.
SurTec 650 is a chromium VI free conversion treatment used primarily on aluminium and aluminium alloys. It is frequently specified as a RoHS compliant pre-treatment before painting, while also offering corrosion protection for bare parts in selected applications.
Surface engineering has been moving away from hexavalent chromium treatments for years, driven by health, environmental, and regulatory pressure. Aerospace and defence have made that transition carefully because surface treatments are tied to specification control, fatigue behaviour, paint adhesion, electrical characteristics, field performance, and long service lives.
Aluminium remains central to aircraft structures, defence systems, electronics enclosures, mobility platforms, and precision engineering assemblies. In those applications, corrosion protection is not a cosmetic operation. It affects part life, service intervals, bonding integrity, assembly performance, and reliability once components are exposed to moisture, chemicals, temperature changes, or mechanical stress.
Finishing capacity sits alongside the machining and tooling investments being made across UK aerospace manufacturing, including new large five-axis capability for aerospace tooling production. A machined component still has to pass through cleaning, treatment, inspection, coating, and certification routes before it becomes production-ready hardware.
Qualified surface treatment processes can influence where work is placed in the supply chain. OEMs and tier one companies want to reduce risk in finishing operations, particularly where components are safety critical or certification controlled. A process that supports environmental compliance while maintaining corrosion protection can remove one source of future redesign, requalification, or programme delay.
Performance will depend on how the treatment behaves inside customer-specific process routes. Aluminium alloys vary, part geometry can complicate coverage, and downstream requirements for paint, powder coating, electrical contact, sealing, or bonding can differ sharply between programmes. Bath management, masking discipline, inspection, documentation, and process repeatability are therefore as important as the chemistry itself.
Surface treatments are also being drawn into wider sustainability requirements. Customers are asking suppliers to reduce hazardous substances, improve worker safety, lower environmental risk, and provide clearer evidence of compliance. Companies able to offer chromium VI free treatment options are better placed for programmes where environmental restrictions are written into procurement and technical specifications.
For aerospace and defence suppliers, the change is part of a broader materials transition rather than a single substitution. Lightweight structures, composites, aluminium alloys, coatings, adhesives, and fasteners increasingly have to work together inside tighter regulatory and performance envelopes. The finishing route has to support that whole system, not simply protect a part before shipment.
Anotec’s launch expands capability in a part of the manufacturing chain that often receives less attention than machining or assembly, despite its influence on service life. Passivation, coating, and finishing can determine whether a component survives its working environment, bonds correctly, or passes customer inspection. As compliance and durability expectations rise together, surface treatment capacity remains a quiet but essential element of advanced manufacturing resilience.
