ELECTRODEPOSITION OF NICKEL ON HEAT-TREATED LOW CARBON STEEL FOR YAM POUNDING BEATER

Abstract

This work focused on the mechanical and corrosion behaviors of electroplated nickel on heat-treated low carbon steel serving as an alternative to austenitic stainless steel for the yam beater in a yam pounding machine. Four standard samples were prepared for electrodeposition from the steel samples by heating to a temperature of 920°C with a 60-min holding time. One of the samples was air-cooled while the remaining three were quenched in H2O and later tempered at 450°C, 550°C and 650°C for 60[Formula: see text]min. After the heat treatment process, the ultimate tensile strength, toughness, and microhardness of the samples were obtained. Nickel electrodeposition was later carried out on the heat-treated mild steel using Watt standard bath concentration. Optical Microscopy (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with energy dispersion spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) were used for the characterization of the heat-treated and nickel-electrodeposited samples. More so, the electrochemical behavior of the nickel-plated samples was studied in a yam fluid environment using the potentiodynamic polarization technique. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to analyze the chemical and oxide composition of the samples. The results showed that among all the heat treatment operations, the sample heat-treated at 920°C and tempered at the highest tempering temperature of 650°C gave the highest toughness value (102[Formula: see text]MJ/m3) when compared with stainless steel at 124[Formula: see text]MJ/m3. The sample heat-treated at 920°C and tempered at 550°C displayed a corrosion rate of 0.022182[Formula: see text]mm/yr as against the stainless steel sample with a value of 0.0031864[Formula: see text]mm/yr. From the analysis, the nickel deposited on the heat-treated samples enhanced corrosion resistance in the yam fluid. XRF analysis of the yam before pounding, after processing with nickel electroplated, and stainless beaters shows the content of nickel as 0.0941%, 0.109%, and 0.1113%, respectively. It was concluded that the materials for the yam pounding beater, therefore, perform better if they were both heat-treated and nickel-plated. Invariably, stainless steel could be successfully replaced with heat-treated and nickel-plated mild steel for use as a yam pounding beater.