Effect of electrodeposition parameters on the evolution of crystallographic texture and internal stress of Ni/ZrC composite coatings

Abstract Crystallographic texture and internal stress are two important aspects of microstructures, responsible for various physical and chemical properties of electrodeposited composite coatings. This paper aims to understand how preparation parameters such as current density, size and concentration of second-phase particles, particularly deposition time, influence the crystallographic texture and internal stress of electrodeposited Ni matrix composites. The results show that the evolution of surface morphology, crystallographic texture and the internal stress of electrodeposited Ni/ZrC composites is strongly related to the content of incorporated ZrC in coatings, which increases after an increase in the amount of ZrC particles loaded in the electrolyte, from 0 g/L to 40 g/L, and from a decrease in applied current density, from 20 A/dm2 to 1.25 A/dm2. By increasing the ZrC content in coatings, the crystallographic texture of Ni/ZrC is depressed and internal stress is modified from 329.48 MPa to 56.71 MPa. During electrodeposition, the exhibited texture changes from initial texture to growth texture for pure Ni coatings, and to random orientation for Ni/ZrC coatings. The tensile internal stress of Ni/ZrC decreases, followed by a gradual increasing with an increase of thickness. ZrC nanoparticles incorporation results in Ni/ZrC coatings with a weaker texture and lower internal stress than Ni/ZrC coatings that incorporate ZrC micron particles.