Effect of hard chrome plating parameters on structural, mechanical and wear properties of ferritic stainless steel

The capability to protect a surface from environmental effects, and to extend the life of not only the surface but also the entire component is one of the most important technological advances. Electrolytic hard chrome plating is obtained by creating a metal plating on an electrode with dissolved metal cations with electric current. The hard chrome plating has a wide range of uses in industry, especially in the automotive industry, due to its high wear resistance, high hardness and low friction coefficient. This study aimed to deposit different hard chrome plating parameters (time, current) on ferritic stainless steel (X2CrS13) and to investigate the effects of these parameters on structural, mechanical and wear. Four different currents (1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 Ampere) and three different times (200, 250 seconds and 300 seconds) were decided on within the scope of the study. At SEM-EDS analyses, it was observed that the hard chrome plating was successfully deposited on the substrate material in all plating parameters. The highest plating thickness, ~19.3 μm, was obtained in the L-coded sample, which had the highest current and time parameters (2.5 Ampere and 300 seconds). It was observed that the microcracks in the hard chrome plating started from the outermost surface of the plating and extended to the substrate material. In the microhardness results extending from the plating to the substrate material, it was seen that the outermost surface of the plating for the sample with the highest plating thickness (L-coded) had a microhardness approximately 9 times higher than the substrate material, and this also had a positive effect on the wear resistance. In the progressive scratch tests, it was observed that the deformations on the sample surface widened with the increase in the applied load. With the hard chrome plating, the wear resistance has been improved by up to a factor of 3.