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Properties and Comparisons of Commonly Specified Coatings: Zinc/Zinc-Alloy, Copper/Alloys, and Some Precious Metals
Properties and Comparisons of Commonly Specified Coatings: Zinc/Zinc-Alloy, Copper/Alloys, and Some Precious Metals
In a chloride environment,
cadmium is less noble
In a sulfate (acid rain) than iron
environment, cadmium is
more noble than iron
Salt Spray Performance of Zinc Alloys
Hours to exposure for 12 microns over steel
Coating Hrs To WR Hrs To RR
Bare Cadmium NA >1000
Cadmium + Chromate 672 >1000
Zinc-Nickel + Chromate (acidic solution) 168 336
Zinc-Nickel + Chromate (alkaline solution) >1000 >1000
Zinc-Tin + Chromate 672 >1000
Zinc-Cobalt + Chromate (acidic solution) 168 336
Zinc-Cobalt + Chromate (alkaline solution) 336 672
Limitations:
Tin is expensive
Tin-zinc, as plated and
Unpleasing appearance chromated
Impact of Zinc Alloys on Hydrogen
Embrittlement Relief Bake
Coating Pass/Fail Hrs. to Failure
Bare Cadmium PASS (3) >200
Cadmium + Chromate PASS (1) 183, (5) >200
Acid Zinc-Nickel FAIL (3) 0.5, 0.4, 0.5
Acid Zinc-Nickel* PASS (3) >200
Alkaline Zinc-Nickel PASS (1) 141, (5) >200
Zinc-Tin FAIL (3) 0, 0, 0.2
Acid Zinc-Cobalt FAIL (3) 0.8, 5.7, 4.4
Alkaline Zinc-Cobalt FAIL (3) 4.5, 4.5, 8.3
Notes:
All alloy deposits were chromated
* Designates an alternate supplier’s process was used
Electroplated Copper
• Melting Point: 1083°C
• Stable in water, tarnishes quickly in air
• Eventually forms a patina and stops corroding
• Ductile, malleable
- Elongation is %
- Easily buffed/machined
• Excellent conductor of heat and electricity
• Hardness is typically HV25 = 50-350
• Low internal stress
• Chemically attacked by nitric, hot sulfuric, sulfides
• Diffusion barrier over brass
• Heat Treat Stop-off
• Under-plate for nickel
• Most commonly plated from sulfuric acid, cyanide or
alkaline non-cyanide based solutions
Electroplated Copper
Property General Range High Strength Deposit
UTS (kpsi) 64 – 90 66 – 93
Yield (kpsi) 41 – 57
Elongation (%) 0 – 40 3 – 18
Hardness (HV) 48 – 350 131 – 159
Resistivity (micro-ohms-cm) 1.7 - 4.6 1.75 – 2.1
Internal Stress (psi) -6,000 - +14,000 +5,000 – +7,000
Fatigue Limit (106 cycles, kpsi) 10 – 20 No data
Notes:
• Thinner deposits from copper sulfate solutions are usually stronger than thicker
• Thicker deposits from cyanide solutions are usually stronger than thinner
• Fatigue limit for copper deposited from a cyanide copper solution (using periodic
reverse rectification) was twice that for sulfuric acid
Bronze (Copper-Tin)
Applications:
• Powertrain, hydraulic and bearing
components
• Hardware exposed to marine environments
(corrosion rate = 0.002ipy) Bronze plated
hydraulic pump
• Nitride stop-off, cavities
Photo by F. Altmayer
Most commonly plated alloy: 8-15% Sn
• High hardness (HV = 350-600)
• Low coefficient of friction (0.06 on steel vs.
0.14 for hard chrome)
Color ranges:
Wikipedia photo
• Red (8-10%Sn)
Bronze plating on a
• Golden yellow (12-15%Sn) German ship hull
(1914)
• White (>22%Sn)
Bronze (Copper-Tin)
120 600
100 500
80 400
Resistivity
Micro-ohms-cm HV
60 300
40 200
20 100
20 40 60 80
Weight % Tin
White Bronze
(55-60%Cu, 25-28%Sn, 14-18%Zn)
Features:
• 55-60%Cu, 25-28%Sn, 14-18%Zn
• Alternative to electroplated nickel
• Bright
• Solderable
• High Hardness (HV340-400)
• Non magnetic
• Effective diffusion barrier White bronze plated spring
between gold and copper loaded washers for electronic
terminals
Limitations:
• 35% the conductivity of copper
• Cyanide based process
Properties of Plated Silver
Features:
• Best conductor of heat and electricity of all metals
- Electrical resistance = 1.6-1.9 µ-ohms-cm, unless brightened with
antimony (10 times more resistive)
• Ductile, Malleable
- UTS: 34-48ksi
- Elongation: 12-19%
• HV25 = 40-200)
• Melting point 960.5°C
Automotive fuse with silver
• Boiling point 1950 ° C plated contacts
• Density 10.5 g/cc Photo by F. Altmayer
Limitations:
Silver sulfide whiskers growing
• Silver readily reacts with sulfur out of surface-mount resistors
producing silver sulfide (Ag2S) Photo by J. Reinhart
Comparing Plated Precious Metals
Property Ag Au Rh Pd Pt
Color White Yellow White White Grey
Density, g/cm3 10.5 17-19.3 16-18 11.5-12 21
Melting Point, °C 960 1060 1966 1552 1769
Hardness, HK25 40-200 50-250 1000 250-500 280-350
Ductility (% elongation) 12-19 0.1-8 1.0 2-8 2-4
Catalytic Activity No No Yes Yes Yes
Crystal Structure FCC Nano FCC FCC FCC
Visible Light Reflection Excel. Poor Excel. Good Fair
Internal Stress Kpsi 0-40 -8-40 70-140 10-100 36
Corrosion Resistance Poor Excel. Excel. Good Excel.
Wear Cycles* <50 5-200 10,000 50 50
Contact Res. Ohms <.6 0.3-0.6 0.8 .004-1.1* .6
Arc Resistance Poor Poor Excel. Poor Poor
Solderability Excel Excel. Good V Good V Good
Thermal Exp. Coeff. 19.7 14.3 8.5 11.8 9.0
Thermal Conductivity** 1.0 0.71 0.21 0.17 0.17
Liabilities:
• Can grow “whiskers”
• Chemically attacked by: Cyanide, Aqua Regia Gold Plate
Nickel Plate
Wear Properties
• Transitional metal Alloys Best
• Organic Brighteners Good
• Semi-metallic Brighteners Poor
Porosity
• Semi-metallic Brighteners Best
• Organic Brighteners Good Micro-circuit manufactured
using gold plating
• Transitional metal Alloys Poor
Notes:
• Porosity of a gold deposit is also related to thickness, temperature, solution
purity, and current density
• Gold plating offers excellent corrosion resistance, excellent solderability,
weldability and infra-red reflectivity
Electronic Connections
Issues:
• Corrosive environments
- Atmospheric
- Body corrosives (wearables)
High Spot
• Abrasive Wear
- Connection cycles may be very frequent
• Thermal effects
- Heat dissipation requirements
- Formation of inter-metallics
- Diffusion
Resistance due to
• Contact Between Mating Surfaces current constriction
CER 0.5
(mΩ) 0.4
0.0008” Ni under-plate
0.3
0.0002” Ni under-plate
20 50 100 200
Resistance due to
Gram Load current constriction
Surface Roughness:
• Smoother surfaces yield low levels of porosity and
lower CER values:
Roughness (RMS) Pores/cm (CoHG)
1.6 60
5.5 100
31.5 160
Data from “Gold Plating Technology” by Reid and Goldie
Gold Plating on Connectors
Features:
• Reliability
- Especially at current as low as 1 nano-amp
• Corrosion resistance
• Wear properties
• Suitable for low force connections
• Low/consistent contact electrical resistance
• Not subject to degradation by fretting
• Usable at elevated temperatures
Liabilities:
• Cannot be mated to tin plated surfaces
• Requires nickel (or other suitable) under-plate Photo by F. Altmayer
Liabilities:
Attacked by HCl and HNO3
Arc resistance: low
Low ductility (Elongation: 2-4%) Palladium plated jewelry