Abstract

The USlMLNAS company that provides steel for the automotive industry decided to acquire an electroplating process able to alternate coating on both faces of steel plates and to start an intense electrolytic flux and a high deposition rate. The objective of this work is to construct an electroplating cell in order to study the main process variables such as current density and electrolyte flow rate. The influence of current density and electrolyte flow velocity on the morphology of zinc coating was observed. Through the AFM technique, three different crystallization forms were observed. Using the atomic force microscopy it was possible to observe the zinc layer at the early stages of deposition. fl could be clearly seen dial morphology of die deposited film is correlated to the substrate grains.