Prototype Surface Finishing of Nickel Plating
Nickel plating is used in a wide variety of industrial applications.It’s often a less expensive alternative to Chrome plating, so as you may expect, it is much more common.Nickel electroplating serves a variety of practical and aesthetic purposes. From a practical standpoint, nickel plating can help protect against corrosion and improve wear resistance, provides a level or corrosion resistance and is functional,as well as increase the thickness of a surface. Nickel can enhance the appearance of an object by adding brightness.
The effect of Nickel plating:
Electroplated nickel coatings are highly stable in air, resistant to atmospheric, alkali, and certain acids.
It can keep its luster in the atmosphere for a long time,it’s often used for decoration.
Nickel plating has a wide range of applications and can be used as a protective decorative coating to protect the substrate on the surfaces of iron and steel, zinc die-castings, aluminum alloys and copper alloys.The material is not corroded or plays the role of bright decoration.
What's the Difference between Chrome Plating & Nickel Plating?
Tinting of the metal：Chrome plating gives the metal a slight blue shine, while nickel plating has a natural yellow or whitish appearance.Generally, nickel-plated products will have a gentle yellow hue, which will be brighter or weaker depending on the density of the nickel, and how much plating is present.
A chrome finish is very shiny, reflective, and has a mirror-like finish while nickel has a dull matte finish.
Chrome has a smooth, steely, mirror-like finish, which tends to easily show marks. Fingerprints, water spots, and scratches are more visible on the chrome plating than nickel. However, Nickel can tarnish over time while chrome does not.
Nickel plating is more commonly available; this is probably due to the fact that nickel plating is cheaper than chrome.
Both chrome and nickel have their own advantages and disadvantages. Hope this article help you to make a good decision of prototype surface finishing.Without doubt,they are both durable and do not wear out easily.