Numerical Simulation for Improving Coating Homogeneity of High-Speed Tin Plating System

Abstract

The influence of electrodeposition coating uniformity is complex; in essence, coating thickness depends on the potential distribution on the cathode surface, which is jointly affected by geometric and electrochemical factors. In a realistic high-speed tin plating production process, the edge effect has always been a vital problem to the homogeneity of electrodeposition coatings. Due to the complexity of production equipment and the high costs of spot experiments, modeling and simulation have become promising ways to study how to improve the uniformity of coatings. In this paper, we proposed reasonable model simplification strategies in the high-speed tin electrodeposition process and studied the influence of anode arrangement and auxiliary equipment on the uniformity of tin plating coating based on COMSOL Multiphysics. The results showed that changing the relative positions of cathode and anode cannot make the coating evenly distributed while adding specific auxiliary devices at appropriate locations would helpfully solve the uneven coating problem caused by edge effects. The research not only aims at a high-speed tin plating system but also has a great reference with any plate-type cathode electrodeposition for improving the homogeneity of coatings.