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Improving the mechanical strength of the Mg alloy with Ni electroplating

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Abstract

In this study, Ni electroplating is applied to the surface of the lightweight Mg alloy specimen to form a sandwich structure, and strengths improvement is quantitatively compared with the bare Mg alloy. Specifically, the mechanical properties of three specimens were compared one with another using mechanical tensile testing. Accordingly, two Ni electroplated specimens (Ni electroplated only and Ni electroplated with hydroxypropyl cellulose additive) were prepared and compared with the bare Mg alloy. As a result, both Ni electroplated specimens exhibit drastic improvement of the mechanical strength, which is attributed to the interaction between the sandwich structure covered with stiffer Ni material and grain refinement. Consequently, the rule of mixture was used to calculate the intrinsic elastic modulus of the Ni layer from the effective modulus. Finally, the calculated moduli were implemented using FEA (finite element analysis) and compared with the experimental results to examine their accuracy and validity.

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Abbreviations

σ y :

Yield strength

σ o :

Frictional stress

K y :

Strengthening coefficient

d :

Average grain size

E Eff :

Effective elastic modulus

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Science and ICT) (NRF-2021R1A2C1007016) and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) grant funded by the Korea Government (MOTIE) (P0002092, The Competency Development Program for Industry Specialist).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical System and Automotive Engineering, Chosun University, 309 Pilmun-daero, Gwangju, Korea

    Yu Rim Kang & Jae B. Kwak

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chosun University, 309 Pilmun-daero, Gwangju, Korea

    Jae B. Kwak

Authors
  1. Yu Rim Kang
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  2. Jae B. Kwak
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jae B. Kwak.

Additional information

Yu Rim Kang received her B.S. degree in 2020 and is pursuing a M.S. degree in Mechanical System and Automotive Engineering from Chosun University. Her research area is experimental mechanics to characterize functional thin films and system integration technique. E-mail: 20171850@chosun.kr

Jae B. Kwak joined the Department of Mechanical System and Automotive Engineering of Chosun University, Korea in 2018 as an Assistant Professor. He had worked for Samsung Electronics for 7 years as a dedicated engineer to develop a leading-edge manufacturing system and structural design for smart devices after receiving his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Binghamton, USA in 2010. Also, he obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 2005 and 2008, respectively. His current research area is the development of new manufacturing technology regarding reliability design for smart electronics. E-mail: jaekwak@chosun.ac.kr

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Kang, Y.R., Kwak, J.B. Improving the mechanical strength of the Mg alloy with Ni electroplating. J Mech Sci Technol 35, 3627–3632 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-0733-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-0733-7

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