Electrodeposition of Nickel on Heat-treated Low Carbon Steel for Yam Pounding Beater
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Date
2022-08-15
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World Scientific
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 920C 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 450C, 550C and
650C for 60min. 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 elec
trochemical behavior of the nickel-plated samples was studied in a yam °uid environment using the
potentiodynamic polarization technique. X-ray °uorescence (XRF) was used to analyze the chemical
and oxide composition of the samples. The results showed that among all the heat treatment opera
tions, the sample heat-treated at 920Candtemperedatthehighesttemperingtemperature of650C
gave the highest toughness value (102MJ/m3) when compared with stainless steel at 124MJ/m3.
The sample heat-treated at 920C and tempered at 550C displayed a corrosion rate of
0.022182mm/yr as against the stainless steel sample with a value of 0.0031864mm/yr. From the
analysis, the nickel deposited on the heat-treated samples enhanced corrosion resistance in the yam
°uid. 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.