Study of the Effect of Electro-co-deposition on Transmission Gears

The word Electro-co-deposition means deposition of Anodic material on to the cathode along with additives which are mixed in to the electrolyte solution. In the present work nickel is used as the anode, Mild Steel Substrate as cathode and Tungsten carbide (WC) is used as additive material. Intially the coating was done on MS plates, later the coating was done on Spur gears. The Coated gears were tested for coating thickness and Hardness. The coated plates were used for characterisation using XRD, as it is not feasible to carry out XRD on the gears after coating. The coating thickness was found to be more uniform throughout the gears but high quality coating was found at the edges. Also Hardness of the coated gears was higher compared to uncoated gears. The XRD Analysis was done for 2 range of 20 to 80 at four degrees per minute. The analysis was used as a confirmation test for Ni-WC crystal growth. With all these increases trends in properties after coating the MS substrate there is wide scope of this technology in Automobile as well as aerospace domains.