Abrasive-assisted Nickel Electroforming Process with Moving Cathode

In traditional electroforming process for revolving parts with complex profiles, the drawbacks on surface of deposits, such as pinholes and nodules, will lead to varying physical and mechanical properties on different parts of electroformed components. To solve the problem,compositely moving cathode is employed in abrasive-assisted electroforming of revolving parts with complicated profiles. The cathode translates and rotates simultaneously to achieve uniform friction effect on deposits without drawbacks. The influences of current density and translation speed on the microstructure and properties of the electroformed nickel layers are investigated. It is found that abrasive-assisted electroforming with compound cathode motion can effectively remove the pinholes and nodules,positively affect the crystal nucleation, and refine the grains of layer. The increase of current density will lead to coarse microstructure and lower micro hardness, from 325 HV down to 189 HV. While, faster translational linear speed produces better surface quality and higher micro hardness, from 236 HV up to 283 HV. The weld-ability of the electroformed layers are also studied through the metallurgical analysis of welded joints between nickel layer and 304 stainless steel. The electrodeposited nickel layer shows fine performance in welding. The novel compound motion of cathode promotes the mechanical properties and refines the microstructure of deposited layer.

Improvement of thickness deposition uniformity in nickel electroforming for micro mold inserts

Thickness deposition is a crucial issue on the application of electroformed micro mold inserts. Edge concentration effect is the main source of the non-uniformity. The techniques of adopting a non-conducting shield, a secondary electrode and a movable cathode were explored to improve the thickness deposition uniformity during the nickel electroforming process. Regarding these techniques, a micro electroforming system with a movable cathode was particularly developed. The thickness variation of a 16 mm×16 mm electroformed sample decreased respectively from 150% to 35%, 12% and 18% by these three techniques. Combining these validated methods, anickelmold insert for microlens array was electroformed with satisfactory mechanical properties and high replication precision. It could be applied to the following injection molding process.

Microstructure of Co-Ni-Al2O3 Composite Coatings by Electroforming

The metal matrix composite coatings of Co-Ni-Al2O3 were studied by electrolytic codeposition of Co-Ni alloys and Al2O3 on a Cu substrate from a sulfamate electrolyte containing Al2O3 particles. It was illustrated from the examined results of SEM, AFM and XRD that surface morphology and microstructure of Co-Ni-Al2O3 coatings appear to be mainly influenced by variations in Co content. The high Co content coatings with hcp lattice structure have a more uniform and fine structure than that of low Co content coatings with fcc lattice structure. The codeposition of Al2O3 particles in Co-Ni alloys can not change the phase structure of solid solution, only affects the growth and orientation of crystal planes and mostly increase the d value of lattice.

Pulse electroforming of nickel under perturbation of hard particles

Nickel deposits were prepared by pulse electroforming, in which an aluminium alloy cylinder mandrel rotated in hard particles filling between the electrodes. The microstructure and properties of the deposits were studied by contrasting with electroforming using direct current. The results show that the surface of the deposits obtained by pulse electroforming displays more obvious abrasion marks and (200) preferred orientation to that electroformed using direct current at the same average current density. Besides, the deposits represent higher microhardness and better high-temperature corrosion resistance. It is also found that the orientation index of plane (200) and microhardness significantly increase with the reduction of duty cycle of pulse current. During pulse electroforming, the longer off-time and higher peak current density are helpful to strengthening the hard particles’ polishing effect on the surface of deposits and perturbing effect on crystal nucleation of atoms.

Electroforming of a Complex Mould Using an Acid-Mediated Copper Sulphate Bath

This work reports a procedure for the fabrication of a complex mould using the technique of electroforming. This was with a view to finding a cheaper and less labour-intensive mould production route practicable locally. A Plaster of Paris electroforming mandrel in the shape of a water bottle was produced and made electrically conducting with a layer of copper conducting paint. Considerations for electroform removal were made by applying a thin, chloroform-dissolvable epoxy layer beneath the conducting copper paint. Uniformity of deposition on the mandrel was accomplished with the construction of a special deposition bath with multiple copper anodes around its perimeter. The electroforming was done in the galvanostatic electro deposition mode for about 240 hrs in a 1 M Cu2SO4 bath with the deposition of elemental copper on the mandrel. Incidences of rising bath pH were mediated with concentrated H2SO4. A free-standing electroform representing the mould cavity was formed in the deposition. The product so formed was a reproduction of the net-shape of the mandrel exhibiting smooth surface finish. The electroforming was cast with an aluminum backing layer to complete its transformation into a split mould. The finished mould was comparable in appearance to the imported moulds in terms of appearance and reproduction of intricate surface patterns. The simplicity and low cost of this method significantly reduced the requirements for expensive instrumentation and highly skilled labour for mould production.

Research on Bipolar Pulse Current Electroforming in Precision Molds and Dies

Electroforming is a specialised electroplating process for the manufacture of precision metal parts and mold tooling. Because it can simplify technical process and shorten molding cycles, electroforming is also a rapid manufacturing technology. Compared with direct and unipolar pulse current, bipolar pulse current in electroforming can obtain fine structure and grain size as well as surface leveling, resulting in better precision and surface finish. In this paper, bipolar pulse current electroforming is introduced. The influencing parameters such as electrolyte parameter, additives, current density, pH, temperature, and pulse parameters have been studied by experiments. Experiments on nickel electroforming in molds and dies have been done. The results indicated that bipolar pulse current electroforming could improve the quality and precision further, while reducing internal stress.

Reducing SU-8 hygroscopic swelling by ultrasonic treatment

The volume expansion of SU-8 resist brings serious dimensional errors to electroformed structures.Two approaches have been proposed to reduce resist distortions during electroforming:electroforming at room temperature and adding auxiliary features for mask patterns.However,the former method induces higher internal stresses in the electroformed metal layers.And the latter method makes it difficult to predict the expansion behaviors of the resists.In the paper,the thermal expansion of the SU-8 mould is calculated by ANSYS firstly,and the lower thermal expansion value indicates that hygroscopic swelling plays a leading role in SU-8 mould distortions.An original technique is presented to reduce SU-8 hygroscopic swelling by ultrasonic treatment.The dimensional errors of the electroformed structure fabricated on the ultrasonic treatment mould are 50% lower than the one without ultrasonic treatment.Simulation of hygroscopic swelling is conducted by finite element analysis,and the results indicate that the hygroscopic strain ε of SU-8 after electroforming is declined from 6.8% to 3.1% because of ultrasonic.The measurements show that ultrasonic treatment increased the water contact angle of cured SU-8 from 70.8?to 74.9?.Based on these results,the mechanism of ultrasonic effect on hygroscopic swelling is proposed from the view of ultrasonic vibration decreasing the number of hydroxyl groups in SU-8.The research presents a novel method to improve the precisions of electroformed structures.It has no influence on the internal stresses of final structures and does not increase the complexities of mask layouts.

In situ backscattered electron imaging study of the effect of annealing on the deformation behaviors of Ni electroformed from additive-free and saccharin-containing sulfamate solutions

The Ni samples were electroformed from additive-free(AF) and saccharin-containing(SC) sulfamate solutions, respectively. In situ backscattered electron(BSE) imaging, electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD), and electron-probe microanalysis(EPMA) were used to investigate the effect of annealing on the deformation behaviors of the AF and SC samples. The results indicate that columnar grains of the as-deposited AF sample had an approximated average width of 3 μm and an approximated aspect ratio of 8. The average width of columnar grains of the as-deposited SC sample was reduced to approximately 400 nm by the addition of saccharin to the electrolyte. A few very-large grains distributed in the matrix of the SC sample after annealing. No direct evidence indicated that S segregated at the grain boundaries before or after annealing. The average value of the total elongations of the SC samples decreased from 16% to 6% after annealing, whereas that of the AF samples increased from 18% to 50%. The dislocation recovery in grain-boundary areas of the annealed AF sample was reduced, which contributed to the appearance of microvoids at the triple junctions. The incompatibility deformation between very-large grains and fine grains contributed to the brittle fracture behavior of the annealed SC Ni.

Microstructure and properties of electroformed nickel under different waveform conditions

In order to prepare electroformed nickel with excellent properties,the effect of different waveforms on microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated by optical microscopy(OM),X-ray diffraction(XRD) and tensile test,respectively.The results show that the samples are composed of micron columnar grains with high-density nanoscale coherent twin boundaries which are parallel to the growth plane.The tensile strength and elongation display opposite tendency with the increase in current density when direct current(DC) electroforming was applied.However,under the condition of pulse current(unidirectional,bidirectional) electroforming,the change regulation of tensile strength and elongation is close while cathode(peak,positive peak) current density increases.XRD results show that electroformed nickel layers with high purity are all fcc crystal configuration under different conditions of the current waveform.The nickel layers formed under bidirectional pulse current behave superior global performance with tensile strength of 692.0 MPa and elongation of 27.6 %.

Mechanical electrodeposition of bright nanocrystalline nickel

A new mechanical electrodeposition technology was proposed, and nanocrystalline nickel deposit with bright and smooth surface was prepared in the bath without any additive agents. Unlike traditional methods, the novel technology employed dynamical hard particles to continuously polish the cathode surface and disturb the nearby solution during electrodepositing. Experimental results showed that the polishing effect of hard particles can effectively prevent the hydrogen bubbles and impurities from adhering on the deposit surface and avoid the production of pits, pinholes and nodules. Furthermore, comparing with the deposit prepared by traditional methods, the one prepared by the novel technology was substantially refined with grain size ranging from 30 to 80 nm. Every diffraction peak's intensity of the deposit was reduced, the preferential orientation degree of (200) decreased and those of (111) and (220) increased. The microhardness notably increased. The magnetic properties were also changed with decreased saturation magnetization and increased coercive force. It was also found that variation of current density and cathode rotational speed could affect the structure and properties of the nickel deposits prepared by this technology.

Effects of process parameters on mechanical properties of abrasive-assisted electroformed nickel

A cathode mandrel with translational and rotational motion, which was supposed to obtain uniform friction effect on surface, was employed in abrasive-assisted electroforming for revolving parts with complex profile. The effects of current density, translational speed and rotational speed on the deposit properties were studied by orthogonal test. The tensile strength,elongation and micro hardness value were measured to find out how the factors affected the properties. The optimized results show that changes of current density affect the tensile strength of nickel layer most, while translational speed has the most remarkable influences on both elongation and micro hardness. The low rotational speed affects the properties least. In this experiment, a smooth nickel layer with tensile strength 581 MPa, elongation 17% and micro hardness 248 HV is obtained by the orthogonal test.

Electroformation and collection of giant liposomes on an integrated microchip

Giant liposome is an important lipid structure widely used in biological and medical fields. In its main preparation method, electroformation, many influencing factors must be optimized for good effect. How to collect the desired giant liposomes is another major issue. In this work, a microchip with a reactor chamber array was used to study the influences of multiple parameters, and a suitable condition could be achieved rapidly and efficiently. A tailor-made collection chamber was also integrated on the chip. Based on the multifactor and multilevel orthogonal experiment, optimal conditions of the lipid solution, buffer solution, and electric signal were achieved with high efficiency. More than one thousand giant liposomes could be formed in each microscale reactor chamber, and most of them were unilamellar. The on-chip collection ratio of giant liposome carriers could also approximate to 40%.