Fabrication of Ni–Co–SiC composite coatings by pulse electrodeposition — Effects of duty cycle and pulse frequency

In this work, Ni–Co–SiC composite coatings were prepared by pulse current (PC) electrodeposition on carbon steel. Effects of the electrodepositing parameters such as duty cycle and pulse frequency on properties and performance of the fabricated coating were investigated. The results show that, with the decreasing duty cycle and increasing pulse frequency, the coating morphology changes from a nodular to an acicular structure, with finer grains. Moreover, the amount of SiC particles deposited in the coating is increased. The micro-hardness and corrosion resistance of the coating was enhanced at a low duty cycle and a high frequency (10 Hz in this work), which is related to the increasing amount of SiC particles deposited in the coating.