Effects of Process Parameters on Microhardness of Electrodeposited Ni-Al Composite Coating Using Taguchi Method

This paper aims at investigating the influence of p r cess parameters on micro hardness of metal matrix / material particle coated steel pl ates. The electro deposition parameters such as current density, pH of bath, bath temperatu re, Al particles concentration in the bath and agitation speed were considered for this s tudy. Nickel matrix / aluminum particle composite coatings were prepared from a Wa tt’s bath by electro-codeposition method. The Taguchi method was used to establish th e relationship between the process parameter and response variable, micro hardness of the coated plate. L27 Taguchi orthogonal design was employed for conducting the e xperiments. The micro-hardness of the deposits was examined using a Vickers microhardness tester with the payload of 100 g for 10 sec of indentation period. Signal-to-n oise ratio and analysis of variance were employed to determine the significance of the process parameter. The surface morphologies of coating and vol. % of Al particles in deposits were analyzed using optical and scanning electron microscope observatio ns.