Abrasive polishing assisted nickel electroforming process

This paper presents a hybrid process combining electroforming technique and abrasive polishing. In a specifically developed equipment the spherical ceramic particles between the cathode mandrel and the anode are forced to continuously polish the deposition surface during nickel electrodepositing. The abrasive polishing can effectively remove the pinholes and nodules, and positively affect the crystal nucleation and therefore refine the grains and speed up the deposition process. Smooth deposition surface of Ra 0.012 mu m, compact nickel deposits with the grain size of less than 80nm and the significantly improved mechanical properties have been experimentally obtained.