WEAR PERFORMANCE AND MECHANISM OF ELECTROLESS NI-P COATING

An electroless Ni-P coating has been deposited onto an AISI 1020 plain carbon steel by using an acid bath based on NiCl2, as source of nicke l cations. The tribological behavior under dry non-lubricated conditio ns has been evaluated by employing the pin-on-disc test, where the pin was made of AISI 52100 steel. The effects of the heat treatment carri ed out at 400 and 260 degrees C for 1 and 25 h, respectively on the ha rdness, friction and wear behavior of the coatings were investigated a nd compared against the properties of the unplated and as-deposited sa mples. Both optical and electron microscopic techniques were used to s tudy the wear surface. It was shown that the wear resistance was great ly increased with both heat treatments, the treatment performed at 400 degrees C being a little more effective, although no influence was ob served on the frictional coefficient.