Evaluation of phosphorous and boron electroless nickel-based coatings in severe corrosion and wear environments as alternatives to hard anodizing of aluminum alloys

MetOcean Data Systems, a Canadian company, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, specializes in manufacturingself-contained Al 6061 beacons. These beacons are capable of being fully submersible to depth up to 2000meters for a period of up to five years, without being inspected. Al 6061 is the alloy of choice to make light,easy to transport beacons; unfortunately it suffers from poor corrosion resistance in seawater. To enhance itscorrosion resistance, MDS contracted a company to hard anodize the outside of all beacons. Overtime, theprocess has proved very costly, due product loss and inconsistent end products. This prompted MDS toapproach Dalhousie University to evaluate alternative ways of enhancing the corrosion resistance of thebeacons and make recommendations to MDS on the best option to pursue.In this work, electroless nickel-based coatings will be synthesized as an alternative to hard anodizing. Thecoatings will be evaluated using mechanical and electrochemical techniques, as well as surface characterizationtechniques. The work will be performed using both, Dalhousie University and MDS facilities.As a result of this project, MDS could potentially have their own coating facilities, which would result infinancial benefits to the company. The creation of an in-house coating facility could translate in more hiring,which would benefit Nova Scotia as a whole.