Influence of nozzle-fluid velocity on morphology and wear resistance of jet flow electrodeposited Ni-doped SiC composites

In this account, Ni-doped SiC composites were deposited through jet flow electrodeposition technique, in which nozzle-fluid velocity of the plating solution was simulated by ANSYS software. The influence of nozzle-fluid velocity on morphologies and wear-resistance properties of Ni-doped SiC composites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), triboindentry, and wear testing. The nozzle-fluid velocity was found to greatly affect the surface morphologies and microstructures of Ni-doped SiC composites. At nozzle-fluid velocity of 3 m/s, Ni-doped SiC composites with smooth and fine morphologies were detected in the micro-regions, with average nickel grains size estimated to 44.5 nm. The nanohardness of Ni-doped SiC composites reached maximum at 3 m/s with average nanohardness estimated to ∼33.8 GPa. In addition, Ni-doped SiC composites deposited at 3 m/s possessed low weight losses (∼34.2 mg) and outstanding wear resistances. On the other hand, only slight scratches occurred on their surfaces, demonstrating excellent wear resistances.