AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

2010, Science Hu, http://www.scihub.org/AJSIR ISSN: 2153-649X doi:10.5251/ajsir.2010.1.3.565.572

The effect of electroplating of Cr and Sn on corrosion resistance of low carbon steel (CK15)
Hani Aziz Ameen1, Khairia Salman Hassan2 and Bushra Rasheed Mohameed3 Technical College Baghdad - Iraq . E-mail:haniazizameen@yahoo.com 2 Institute of Technology Baghdad / Mechanical Dept.-Iraq. E-mail:almaden20002000@yahoo.com 3 Institute of Technology Baghdad / Mechanical Dept.-Iraq. E-mail:bashra_rsheed@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT The aim of the research is to study of electroplating of Cr and Sn on the electrochemical corrosion resistance of low carbon steel (DIN CK15) specimens of (0.2x1.5x1.5) cm dimensions were fabricated to test the electrochemical corrosion. A number of such specimens were coated with tin (Sn) and chrome (Cr) separately to find out the electrochemical corrosion of the metal and the influence of the elements of metal coating on this rate, then passing an electric current in an electric cell representing the positive electrode. The negative electrode was of platinum at a potential, then limiting it through passing a current in the open circuit. The potential is compared with the potential of the metal is the electrochemical chain. Then the circuit is closed and an electric current at this potential is passed with an increasing +100 volt , 100 volt, and finding the corrosion current through the intersection contacts to the cathodic and anodic electrode in accordance with Tafel's method and calculation of corrosion rate. The plating acts as an anode electrode to protect the steel from corrosion. It was deduced that the coating elements leads to decrease of corrosion rates in comparison to the non-plated metal. The chrome led to greater decrease from tin element in the corrosion rate, the existence of alloying in the metal contributed at increasing the corrosion rate. Keywords: Corrosion, electroplating, low carbon steel INTRODUCTION Steel is widely used in engineering applications at 85%. It needs methods to protect it from corrosion for the limited resistance (Ndaliman, 2006). Steel is used in fabrication of components of marine and land transportations in oil pipelines and structures of building, bridges, etc. Due to the steel's importance in engineering applications and its non- resistance to corrosion in most media, researches were concerned in the study of its resistance to corrosion and calculation of cost of protection. Corrosion is a failure that inflects the metal due to a chemical reaction of electrochemical reaction with its medium. Chemical corrosion is due to a reaction between the metal or alloy with the environment. Electrochemical corrosion is due to an electric current to which the a metal is exposed to due to application of an external potential or corrosion due to galvanic reaction or focus cells. Corrosions adopts several forms depending on the nature of the corrosion and condition forms situations of the media. The corrosion types are (Alstom Bosch,2000): (1) Atmospheric Corrosion (2) Uniform Corrosion (3) Galvanic Corrosion (4) Crevice Corrosion (5) Intergranular corrosion (6) Exfoliation corrosion (7) ErosionCorrosion (8) Stress Corrosion Cracking (9) Corrosion Fatigue (10) Filiform Corrosion (11) Microbiological Induced Corrosion. Fig.(1) shows the photos of these kinds of corrosion. There are factors that influence corrosion rate in the liquid media, e.g. acidic (pH) as well as rate of media of the submerged media in it and temperature of the media and existence of alloy metals in the metal. The pH is an important factor in case the media's pH is low because the amount of hydrogen increase the average corrosion rate, i.e. the form is sustained while for the alkai media, the corrosion would be slower. Corrosion of steel in sea water differs from that in pure water, because sea water is a good electric conductor, the pit form will be larger and the concentration of the cell works for long distances.
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This conductivity leads to non-uniform attack in comparison with pure water, the cyclic turning during

submerging due to air motion causes many pits in comparison by continual submerging.

Exfoliation Corrosion Burleigh et al (1995)

Crack Initiation From The Pit Root At Weld Pool (Abhay,2007)

Corrosion Fatigue (Rollason,1973)

Filiform Corrosion Roland et al ,2000)

Microbiological Induced Corrosion (Alstom Bosch,2000)

Pitting Corrosion (Michel Jacques,2004)

Crevice Corrosion (Rollason,1973)

Interganular Corrosion Burleigh et al (1995)

Fig.(1) Types of Corrosion

Galvanic Reaction (Abhay,2007)

Prabhu Ganesan et al, 2007, are studied the effect of multilayer Zn-Ni coatings in 5% NaCl solution using electrochemical corrosion techniques. In the current research; electroplating is the sedimentation of a layer of the metal to be plated with by an electrolysis

process for a solution containing the dissolved metal salt; thus the alloy's base surface gains the specification and characteristics of the metal by which it is plotted. Electroplating is a common method which was developed to be sophisticated

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non- reliant on a chemical reaction between the plating metal and the base alloy. Therefore, the metal surface should be prepared for the electroplating process. Plating process is summarized by electric sedimentation by making the metal which is required for plating a cathode submerged in a liquid consisting of solution of the salts of the plating metal. This is an electrolyte with addition of some catalysts. These may additive that improve the characteristics of the plating surface or exciting materials for reaction. The metal to be sediment is attached to the anode is the electroplating cell.
Table(1) Chemical composition of carbon steel (DIN CK15) Element % , wt % low carbon steel C Mn P S

In the current research, study is conducted of the influence of the plating process on corrosion rate and to investigated the effect of the plating element, e.g. , chrome and tin on the corrosion rate. Experimental Part The experimental part is summarized as follows: Metal Selection A low carbon steel (DIN CK15) was chosen. By knowledge of the chemical composition of the metal, the metal is analyzed by an optical spectrograph. The chemical composition of the metal is shown in table(1).

Ni

Cr

Si

Mo

Cu

0.169

0.683

0.014

0.004

0.024

0.193

0.054

0.022

0.002

Preparation of Test Specimen Many test specimen of steel used according to the standard specification for testing (ASTM) were prepared. The test specimen dimension are 1.5x1.5x0.2 cm. Categorization of Specimen After complete preparation of the specimen (cutting the plate and preparing them for plating process), they are categorized into three groups as shown in table (2) .
Table (2) Categorization of specimen according to groups State of Specimen Specimen's symbol Specimen of low carbon steel A without plating Specimen of low carbon steel B with tin plating Specimen of low carbon steel C with chrome plating

3- Developing operation : use of Netal solution (2% nitric acid + 98% ethyl alcohol) Plating Process: Electroplating (Lowen, 1978) was performed on the specimens groups of symbol (B,C) of table(2) . This process consists of the following stages: A- Cleaning the specimen by an alkali solution, consisting of sodium carbonates (Na2CO3) by a weight ranging between 30-45 gm/L and tri sodium phosphate (Na3PO4H2O) by a weight ranging between 30-45 gm/L and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) by a weight ranging between 7.5-15 gm/L inside an electrochemical cell. The specimen represents the cathode electrode, the anode electrode made of stainless steel by use of 6V to eliminate oils and organic impurities from the specimen's surface. B- Washing by cold water through submerging by water to stop the reaction of the alkali solution. C- Submerging the specimens in a diluted solution of hydrochloric acid 15% for 15 minutes to remove the remaining alkali solution and preparation of the surface for the plating process. D- Water washing for the same purpose in the next stage. E- Preparation of the cell : The plating cell consists of a 20x20x20 cm cubic tank

Tests and Checks: Preparations of specimens for microscopic test inclusive: 1- Grinding the specimen by polishing paper 180-250-400-800-1000 with use of water. 2- Polishing operation by use a special polishing cloth with use of alumina solution (aluminum oxide Al2O3. The granules size is 0.3 .

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containing two poles made of lead. The specimen for plating is attached to the negative electrode. The positive electrode is attached to the DC power supply. Plating solution are added inside a container with less than 0.5 liter water to dissolve the solution in water. Thereafter, the half liter is completed and heated to a temperature and period according the plating solution for each specimen. F- Plating Process : The plating process was performed by tin and chrome elements each individually in accordance with the plating conditions as shown in table(3) Corrosion Test A- Preparation of corrosion solution The corrosion solution in which submerging shall be conduction is prepared of sea water (3.5% NaCl) consisting of 35 gm of sodium
Table(3) Plating conditions Element Time (min.) Tin (Sn) Chrome (Cr) 7 7

chloride salt with 100gm distilled water with pH of 6.9 by measure by a pH meter. B- Electrochemical corrosion Electrochemical corrosion by Tafel method: An electric current is passed in an electrochemical cell (Fig.(2)) consisting of: 1- A positive electrode representing the specimen to be tested (working electrode ) (anode) 2- A negative electrode representing the pole in which the electrons which were released from the anode electrode are gathered. A platinum poles was used in this cell ( auxiliary electrode) (cathode) . 3- Standard calomel electrode . 4- An electrolyte of sea water 5- Electric power supply.

2 Current density (Amp/cm )

Temperature (C) 70 25

Voltage (volt) 6 6

25 7

Fig.(2) Electrochemical cell C. Preparation of specimen for corrosion test: An electric current with a potential to be determined (according to the metal type ; low carbon steel DIN CK15) is passed. Upon passage of current, the potential differences shall change indicating that this current has led to corrosion which was measured. It represents the corrosion current (Icorr). It depends on Tafel method (by use of potentiostat) in the measurement of corrosion rate through taking contacts for anodic and cathodic curves. The intersection point represents the corrosion current. RESULTS Fig.(3)shows the microstructure by a light microscope of 400X magnification. Fig.(4) shows the photos of the

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microstructure for the specimens (A, B and C) after the electrochemical corrosion. Table(4) explains the results of the electrochemical corrosion and shows the corrosion rate. Fig.(5) explains of electrochemical

corrosion for low carbon steel specimens. Fig.(6) shows the comparison of Tafel curves for the different specimens of low carbon steel.

Fig.(3) microscopic structure of steel used

Fig.(4) microstructure for the specimens (A,B and C) after the electrochemical corrosion Table(4) Results of electrochemical corrosion Specimen's symbol A B C Icorr Ma/cm 51.71 21.75 11.79 Ecorr mv 490.2 480.1 503.7 Corrosion rate mpy 22.75 9.57 5.18

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Fig.(5) Results of electrochemical corrosion for low carbon steel specimens

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-300
-325

-350
-375

carbon steel (H) carbon steel (H)-Cr coated carbon steel (H)-Sn coated

-400
-425

potentials / mv vs SCE

-450
-475

-500
-525

-550
-575

-600
-625

-650
-675

-700
-725

-750
-775

-800 1E-3 1E-2 1E-1 1E+0

2

1E+1

current density / A / cm

Fig.(6) Comparison of Tafel curves for the different specimens of low carbon steel

DISCUSSION From the results of the post- electrochemical corrosion conduction the low- carbon steel shown in table(4), corrosion photos in Fig.(4) and Fig.(5), it was found that the corrosion rate for specimens of group A is greater from that of specimens of group B which are tin- plated and that of specimens of group C which are chrome-plated. This is due to existence of alloying elements in the metal of low resistance to corrosion. One method adopted to delimit of metal corrosion is the use of plating. Tin and chrome used as plating elements behave as electrodes (anode), and steel as negative electrode because both are above steel is the electrochemical series. Sea water is an acidic

medium of good electric conductivity, that is electrolyzed to ions of the positive metal which combine with the negative ions of oxygen in the electrolyte forming metal oxides which represent corrosion. Plating process contributed at decreasing the corrosion rate, the correct choice of the plated element is to be according to the location of the element in the electrochemical process by rendering it, the element on which corrosion occurs.

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CONCLUSIONS 1- It gave to plating elements a decrease in corrosion rate compared to the metal without plating. 2- Chrome elements gave a decrease greater that of tin element in corrosion rate. 3- Existence of alloying elements on the metal contributed to an increase in corrosion rate.
REFERENCES [1] Ndaliman M. B. An assessment of Mechanical Properties of Medium Carbon Steel under Different Quenching Media, AUJ. T. , 10(2), 100, Oct 2006. [2] Alstom Bosch "Corrosion of Carbon Steel , Key to Metals Steel,2000. [3] Michel Jacques Corrosion of Aluminum", France, 2004. Paris,

[5]

Burleigh T. D., Ludwiczak E. and Petri R. A."Intergranular Corrosion of an AluminumMagnesium-Silicon Copper Alloy, Corrosion Science, Vol.51, No.1, January 1995.

[6] Abhay K. Tha , Naga G. and Shiresha K. Stress Corrosion Cracking in Aluminum Alloy, AFNOR 7020T6 water tank adaptor for liquid propulsion system organization trivandrum ,G95.022 India, May 2007. [7] Roland J. and Huggins, P.E. Microbiology Influenced corrosion, What its and how works, 2000. [8] Prabhu Ganesan , Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru, Branko N. Popov " Development of Compositionally Modulated Multilayer Zn-Ni Deposits as Replacement for Cadmium", Surface and Coatings Technology, 201, pp 7896-7904,2007. [9] Lowen Heim F.A "Electroplating ", Mc Graw-Hill , New York , 1978.

[4] Rollason E.C. "Metallurgy for Engineering, Edward Arnold Publishers, 4th Edition, 1973.

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