Cadmium plating.
ASTM B766 class 12 type II, yellow chromate and olive drab. 1,000 h in ASTM B117, reported by an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory — the method named alongside the figure, because that is what makes it checkable.
Cadmium is the coating the industry keeps trying to retire and keeps specifying. It is sacrificial, it handles marine service, and it has the lubricity that makes torque-tension behaviour predictable on a thread — which is the property that substitutes usually fail to reproduce.
We run it under one designation: ASTM B766 class 12 type II, covering both finishes. Class 12 is the 12 µm minimum; type II is the chromate conversion.
Qualified by TechnipFMC, for this process.
TechnipFMC qualified Sapucaia for cadmium and has kept us on their approved supplier list for about ten years. It is the only OEM qualification we hold — and we say "for cadmium" every time, because a qualification is granted for a process and a plant, not for a company in general.
For the Petrobras specifications, the honest word is different and so is the claim: we meet them. They converge on the same base ASTM standards we already work to — B766 for cadmium, B841 for zinc-nickel, B633 for zinc, and fluoropolymer top coats.
Yellow chromate and olive drab.
| Finish | Designation | Salt spray | Report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow chromate | ASTM B766 class 12 type II | 1,000 h · ASTM B117 | ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory |
| Olive drab | ASTM B766 class 12 type II | 1,000 h · ASTM B117 | ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory |
Test reports are named here with standard, class and result, and sent on request to clients with an active project. Aerospace work uses AMS-QQ-P-416 and the low-hydrogen-embrittlement variant — a different document from the oil and gas one.
Applied in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil, under ISO 9001:2015. Coating thickness measured in our own laboratory by X-ray fluorescence, with standards traceable to an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. vendas@sapucaia.com
What specifiers ask.
Why is cadmium still specified?
Because for some service nothing replaces it yet. Cadmium is sacrificial, tolerates marine environments well, and — the part people forget — it has the lubricity that makes torque-tension behaviour predictable on a threaded assembly. Oil and gas and aerospace specifications still call it out for exactly that combination.
What is the designation you apply?
ASTM B766 class 12 type II, and it covers both finishes we run — yellow chromate and olive drab. Class 12 is the 12 µm minimum; type II is the chromate conversion. If your specification uses a different class, send it and our sales team confirms before the order.
How is the 1,000 hours documented?
ASTM B117 salt spray, reported by an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. We name the method and the accreditation together with the figure because that is what makes it checkable — a number without a method specifies nothing. The report is sent on request to clients with an active project.
Are you qualified by an OEM for cadmium?
Yes — TechnipFMC qualified Sapucaia for cadmium and has kept us on their approved supplier list for about ten years. It is the only OEM qualification we hold, and it is for this process specifically. We do not extend it to other coatings, because a qualification is granted for a process and a plant, not for a company in general.
Do you meet Petrobras requirements?
We meet the Petrobras specifications for coatings, which converge on the same base ASTM standards we work to: ASTM B766 for cadmium, ASTM B841 for zinc-nickel, ASTM B633 for zinc, and fluoropolymer top coats. Heat treatment follows ASTM B849 and B850, to the standard and class the specification determines.
What about aerospace?
AMS-QQ-P-416 is the aerospace designation, and it is a different document from the oil and gas one — low-hydrogen-embrittlement cadmium is the variant that applies there. Tell us which industry the part serves and the designation follows from it.