Microstructural, Surface Topology and Nanomechanical Characterization of Electrodeposited Ni-P/SiC Nanocomposite Coatings
by
Konstantinos Tsongas 1,*
, Dimitrios Tzetzis 1,2, Alexander Karantzalis 1,3, George Banias 1, Dimitrios Exarchos 1, Donya Ahmadkhaniha 4, Caterina Zanella 4, Theodore Matikas 1,3 and Dionysis Bochtis 1
Konstantinos Tsongas 1,*, Dimitrios Tzetzis 1,2, Alexander Karantzalis 1,3, George Banias 1, Dimitrios Exarchos 1, Donya Ahmadkhaniha 4, Caterina Zanella 4, Theodore Matikas 1,3 and Dionysis Bochtis 1
1
Center for Research and Technology - Hellas, Thessaloniki, Institute for Bio-Economy and Agri-Technology, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
2
School of Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
3
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
4
Department of Materials and Manufacturing, Jönköping University, 55318 Jönköping, Sweden
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(14), 2901; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9142901
Received: 4 June 2019 / Revised: 11 July 2019 / Accepted: 12 July 2019 / Published: 19 July 2019
(This article belongs to the Section Materials)
In the present study, nickel phosphorous alloys (Ni-P) and Ni-P/ silicon carbide (SiC) nanocomposite coatings were deposited by electrodeposition on steel substrates in order for their microstructural properties to be assessed while using SEM, XRD, and three-dimensional (3D) profilometry as well as nanoindentation. The amorphisation of the as-plated coatings was observed in all cases, whereas subsequent heat treatment induced crystallization and Ni3P intermetallic phase precipitation. Examination of the surface topology revealed that the surface roughness follows the deposition characteristics and heat treatment induced microstructural changes. Additionally, substantial improvements in mechanical properties, including hardness, yield stress, and elasticity modulus, were obtained for the Ni-P, Ni-P/SiC nanocomposites when heat treated as seen from the nanoindentation results. A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was developed to simulate the nanoindentation tests that enable the precise extraction of the Ni-P and Ni-P/SiC nanocomposite coatings’ stress-strain behavior. It is shown that the correlation between the nanoindentation tests and the computational models was satisfactory, while the stress-strain curves revealed higher yield points for the heat-treated samples.
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Keywords:
Nanocomposite coatings; Electrodeposition; Nickel-phosphorus; SiC nanoparticles; Hardness; Finite Element Analysis
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MDPI and ACS Style
Tsongas, K.; Tzetzis, D.; Karantzalis, A.; Banias, G.; Exarchos, D.; Ahmadkhaniha, D.; Zanella, C.; Matikas, T.; Bochtis, D. Microstructural, Surface Topology and Nanomechanical Characterization of Electrodeposited Ni-P/SiC Nanocomposite Coatings. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9, 2901.
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