Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
  

Ductility of Nickel Plating

I would like to know the relationship between process parameters and the Nickel deposit ductility / elongation

"Electrodeposition: The Materials Science of Coatings & Substrates"
by Jack Dini

on eBay or

AbeBooks

or Amazon

(affil links)

Hi, Srinivasa. Each parameter, including the addition agents, has an effect on those properties.

Please see Safranek's Properties of Electrodeposited Metals and Alloys [affil link to Amazon or on AbeBooks affil links] or Dini's "Electrodeposition: The Materials Science of Coatings and Substrates" for great coverage of these complex relationships.

Good luck.

Most electroless nickels behave as glass does. That meaning the elongation and ductility approaches zero. Thin deposits can be bent a certain amount together with substrate and, if properly processed, will not chip or flake, but the internal stress in the plate is still present. In these kind of materials, this residual stress is not alleviated by a permanent deformation as is the case with ductile materials.