Why did my electroless nickel plating process fail on AISI 316 stainless steel?

[gabriel]

I need to cover a piece with electroless nickel plating on AISI 316, but for an unknown reason the process have failed several times. The supplier who have tried, told me that some times this happens in austenitic stainless steel but he does not know why. Does anybody know what could be the reason or what bibliography should I read?

Thanks a lot.

 

[Astronuc]

What process is this person using?

Read this - http://corrosion-doctors.org/MetalCoatings/Electroless.htm

A company, which apparently does electroless nickel plating.
http://www.valkro.com/AnodizingandElectrolessNickel/ElectrolessNickelPlating

Why would one nickel plate SS316?

 

[gabriel]

Thanks for the info. The reason is for increasing wear-resistant. The supplier told me that the process never failed in ferritic steel, so I wonder why this happen.

 

[Q_Goest]

Hi gabriel,
What's your application? What is wearing, and what kind of surface pressures and velocities do you typically see? How often does this wear occur? Does this have to be dirt cheap or can the part afford to be made more expensive if the wear resistance is high? What country are you in and where are the parts made?

There are various alternatives to both material selection and surface coatings that might work well, but understanding the application is important.

 

[Astronuc]

I've heard of chrome plated SS304, but not SS316. I suspect the Mo has an effect. I believe SS316 is slightly more noble than SS304.

One might be able to apply a thin chrome plating to which Ni can be applied.

316L is used in nuclear reactor control elements where wear can be significant, and so they ion-nitride the surface. It has do be done correctly, otherwise the coating may result in higher corrosion.

 

[gabriel]

Hi gabriel,
What's your application? What is wearing, and what kind of surface pressures and velocities do you typically see? How often does this wear occur? Does this have to be dirt cheap or can the part afford to be made more expensive if the wear resistance is high? What country are you in and where are the parts made?

There are various alternatives to both material selection and surface coatings that might work well, but understanding the application is important.

The application is for ball valves, the part that I am talking about is the ball. We usually use ENP 0,025mm in carbon steel without problems. Regarding to your question, this process has been quoted, so it is not a problem. We are in Argentina. I think that the reason is related with the metallurgy, maybe the grain size or a right cleaning before the process maybe with an acid.

 

[Q_Goest]

Thanks for the info. I'd rather not comment - you obviously know what you're looking for. Maybe Astronuc or someone else can help.

I'm just a bit curious why you want to go with ENP rather than a thin dense chrome plate or other proprietary surface treatments? I've tried using ENP for corrosion resistance on carbon steel, but it wasn't very effective. For wear resistance I've used hard chrome plate (cylinders) and http://www.magnaplate.com/coatings/nedox/index.shtml" SF-2 from General Magnaplate (valve poppet application). Both of these work very well in their specific applications. I believe Nedox is primarily a nickel based coating.

 

[gabriel]

Thanks for the info. I'd rather not comment - you obviously know what you're looking for. Maybe Astronuc or someone else can help.

I'm just a bit curious why you want to go with ENP rather than a thin dense chrome plate or other proprietary surface treatments? I've tried using ENP for corrosion resistance on carbon steel, but it wasn't very effective. For wear resistance I've used hard chrome plate (cylinders) and http://www.magnaplate.com/coatings/nedox/index.shtml" SF-2 from General Magnaplate (valve poppet application). Both of these work very well in their specific applications. I believe Nedox is primarily a nickel based coating.

Thanks for your comments. Some process with chrome are not good for enviroments, so most of our customer do not accept it.
Just in case, someone could be interested in the reason, the process failed because in steels with %Cr greater than 5% is necessary a previous electrolitic coating with Ni. ;-)