Electroplated Diamond-Composite Coatings for Abrasive Wear Resistance

This paper describes electroplated diamond-composite coatings which are capable of attaining wear resistance a number of orders of magnitude greater than conventional materials when subjected to abrasion by paper. The coatings consist of a single layer of diamond particles held in a matrix of electroplated metal. During the course of these studies, many parameters were found to play important roles in the wear resistance. These parameters include the diamond particle size, its size distribution, the particle density, particle shape, plating uniformity, and the properties of the matrix metal. The influence of these variables is discussed, and the results of the wear testing are presented. The plating process is also briefly described.