Study on Direct Electroless Ni-P Plating on Aluminum Alloy for Aircraft Structure

High strength aluminium alloys are widely used in airframe construction.However,this series of alloys are susceptible to corrosion and wear to limit their usefulness.As is well known,nickel-phosphorous(Ni-P) plating exhibits high hardness and corrosion-resistant and usually is applied to improve the properties of surface.In this study,electroless Ni-P alloy plating on aluminum alloy and the effects of pH value,temperature and deposition time on deposition rate were investigated.Deposits composition and surface morphology were studied.Hardness and corrosion-resistant of the electroless Ni-P deposits were evaluated.The results showed the hardness and the corrosion-resistant in 5% NaCl solutions obviously enhance compared with original aluminum alloy using electroless Ni-P deposition method.