Effects of process parameters on mechanical properties of abrasive-assisted electroformed nickel

A cathode mandrel with translational and rotational motion, which was supposed to obtain uniform friction effect on surface, was employed in abrasive-assisted electroforming for revolving parts with complex profile. The effects of current density, translational speed and rotational speed on the deposit properties were studied by orthogonal test. The tensile strength, elongation and micro hardness value were measured to find out how the factors affected the properties. The optimized results show that changes of current density affect the tensile strength of nickel layer most, while translational speed has the most remarkable influences on both elongation and micro hardness. The low rotational speed affects the properties least. In this experiment, a smooth nickel layer with tensile strength 581 MPa, elongation 17% and micro hardness 248HV is obtained by the orthogonal test.