Surface Finishing and Coating Parameters Impact on Additively Manufactured Binder-Jetted Steel-Bronze Composites

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Binder-jetting additive manufacturing (AM) creates composite materials with unique properties.
• AM composites often require enhanced surface protection for durability in harsh environments.
• Electroless nickel plating offers a potential solution for surface protection of AM parts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore electroless nickel plating for protecting binder-jetting AM stainless steel and bronze composites.
• To investigate the influence of surface finishing, plating chemistry, and parameters on coating properties.
• To optimize plating parameters for desired surface morphology, roughness, and thickness.

Main Methods:

• Utilized chempolishing, plasma cleaning, and organic cleaning for surface preparation.
• Employed Keyence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface analysis.
• Applied Taguchi statistical analysis to determine the impact of process parameters.

Main Results:

• Surface preparation was found to be the dominant factor influencing surface roughness (50.02%).
• Phosphorous level (35.12%) and temperature (41.40%) were key factors for plating thickness.
• Optimized parameters achieved a minimum roughness of 7.76 µm Ra and a maximum thickness of ~149 µm.

Conclusions:

• Electroless nickel plating effectively enhances the surface properties of binder-jetting AM composites.
• Optimized surface preparation and plating parameters are crucial for achieving robust coatings.
• This coating process can improve the performance of AM composites in hazardous applications.