Hydrogen Embrittlement Susceptibility Of Zn-Ni Brush Plating Process

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
  • Corrosion is one of the most important issues in the aerospace industry and the production of the components of an aircraft. Therefore, certain components of an aircraft are coated in order to provide adequate corrosion protection in service. One of those components is the landing gear of an aircraft which can be protected using either Cadmium or Zn- Ni electroplating. However, one of the major issues associated with this process is the possibility of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of the base metal. Zn-Ni brush plating is commonly used in aerospace industry for on-site repair of localized coating damage. Thus, in order to evaluate the HE of base metal (SAE 4340 steel) after Zn-Ni brush plating, a 200-hour sustained load test as per ASTM F519 of plated notched specimens was conducted. The results indicate considerable hydrogen embrittlement in the case of non-baked samples while baking even at a temperature of 100°C, which is a significantly lower temperature than the industry standard of 190°C, alleviated the embrittlement. Sand blasting before plating was also found to have a considerable influence in the results of the embrittlement test.

    Part of Proceedings of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering International Congress 2022.

  • Date created
    2022-06-01
  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Type of Item
    Article (Published)
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-5agv-fw55
  • License
    Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International