Effects of the Electroplating Duration on the Mechanical Property of the Ni-Co-SiC Composite Coatings

In this work, Ni-Co composites incorporated with nano-sized SiC particles in the range of 45-55 nm are prepared by electroplating. The effects of plating duration on the chemical composition, surface morphology, crystalline structures and hardness have been studied. The maximum hardness of Ni-Co-SiC composite coating is approximately 633 Hv at plating duration of 1 h. The hardness is gradually decreased with increasing plating duration, which can be attributed to the growth of crystalline size and the agglomerates of SiC nano-particles. It is therefore explained that the grain refinement of Ni-Co matrix and stable dispersion of SiC particles play an important role for strengthening, which indicate Hall-Petch relation and Orowan model were dominant for hardening of Ni-Co-SiC composite coatings.