Material Properties of Ni-P-B Electrodeposits for Steam Generator Tube Repair

This work investigated the material properties of Ni-P-B alloy electrodeposits obtained from a Ni sulfamate bath as a function of the contents of the P and B sources($H_3PO_3$ and dimethyl amine borane complex(DMAB), respectively) with/without additives. Chemical composition, residual stress, microstructure and micro hardness were investigated using ICP(inductively coupled plasma) mass spectrometer, flexible strip, XRD, TEM and micro Vickers hardness tester, respectively. From the results of the compositional analysis, it was observed that P and B are incorporated competitively during the electrodeposition and the sulfur from the additive is codeposited into the electrodeposit. The measured residual stress value increased in the order of Ni, Ni-P, Ni-B and Ni-P-B electrodeposits indicating that boron affects the residual tensile stress greater than phosphorus. As the contents of the alloying element sources of P and B increased, crystallinity and the grain size of the electrodeposit decreased. The effect of boron on crystallinity and grain size was also relatively larger than the phosphorus. It can be explained that the boron with a smaller atomic radius contributes to the increase of residual stress in the tensile direction and the larger restraining force against the grain growth more significantly than the phosphorus with a larger atomic radius. Introduction of an additive into the bath retarded crystallization and grain growth, which may be attributed to the change of the grain growth kinetics induced by the additive adsorbed on the substrate and electrodeposit surfaces during electrodeposition.