Study of the Performance of Copper Coatings Formed by Electroplating and Deformation Cladding with a Flexible Tool

Abstract

The results of comparative tests of copper coatings formed by electroplating and deformation cladding with a flexible tool (DGFT) under ultimate loads that cause breakage and burrs have been presented. The number of cycles of lateral bending that cause the copper coating to peel and the sample to break, as well as coefficient of sliding friction and the wear of samples during the friction of a lubricant-free spherical indenter on the flat surface of the copper-plated steel disks with substrate hardnesses of 20, 50, and 70 HRC, have been accepted as the performance standards. During the peeling test under bending, it has been found that cladded coatings were not peeled off from the basic material, even in the case when experimental samples were broken, and the peeling of coating in the samples with galvanic coatings has been observed on half of the first bending cycle. Based on the results of the tribotechnical tests, it has been found that copper coatings formed using the above technologies contribute mainly to a reduction in the coefficient of sliding friction on friction surfaces compared to samples without coatings. However, under loads that cause burrs, galvanic coatings have smaller values of the coefficient of sliding friction compared to cladded coatings.