Corrosion and Wear Characteristics of Electroless Ni–P, Ni–P–W and Composite Ni–P–W/Al2O3 Coatings on AZ91 Sheet

Abstract

Electroless Ni–P–W was coated on AZ91 sheets with various W contents and both the corrosion and wear resistance characteristics of these coatings were observed. The increase in W content resulted in a decrease in P content and an increase in the crystallinity of the electroless coatings. The corrosion resistance of the electroless coatings increased upon increase in W content of the electroless coatings up to approximately 5%. Above this content, however, the corrosion resistance tended to decrease due to the disturbed grain structure of the electroless coating. But both the surface hardness and wear resistance increased concurrently due to the positive contribution of W solid solution hardening. The applied heat treatment resulted in a decrease in the corrosion resistance due to the disappearance of the amorphous structure and increase in both the surface hardness and wear resistance due to the precipitation hardening. Al2O3 dispersion was better with the nonionic surfactant, as compared to the anionic and cationic surfactants. Composite coating reduced the corrosion resistance and increased the wear resistance of the electroless Ni–P–W coatings. The applied heat treatment was observed to have positive contribution to Ni–P–W coatings in getting the optimum corrosion and wear resistance combination.