Electrodeposition and sliding wear resistance of nickel composite coatings containing micron and submicron SiC particles

SiC particles of three different sizes, namely 5, 0.7 and 0.3 μm, were codeposited with nickel from Watts’ solutions. It was found that for a given number density of particles in the plating solution, the number density of particles in the coating increases with decreasing particle size. The friction and wear behavior of these composite coatings was evaluated in uni- and bi-directional sliding tests against corundum balls. The best sliding wear resistance was obtained with Ni–SiC composite coatings containing 4–5 vol.% submicron SiC particles.