International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)
ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-8 Issue-10, August 2019
2164
Published By:
Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
& Sciences Publication
Retrieval Number J93790881019/2019©BEIESP
DOI: 10.35940/ijitee.J9379.0881019
Characterization of ABS for Enhancement of
Mechanical Properties
Vishal Saroha, B. S. Pabla, Sukhdev Singh Bhogal
Abstract- Polymers have been increasingly used in industry
due to their light weight, lower cost, reduced secondary
operations, design flexibility and ease in manufacturing.
However the mechanical properties like micro hardness and wear
resistance of plastic restrict their applications. In this paper an
effort has been made to improve the mechanical properties of
plastic by applying a coating of Ni through electrodeposition
method. There has been a remarkable improvement in the wear
resistance and hardness after coating. The experimental
investigation, analysis of result and conclusion are presented in
this paper.
Keywords- Metallization, Electroless plating, Surface
conditioning, Micro hardness, Wear rate.
I. INTRODUCTION
Plastic parts have properties like light weight, corrosion
resistance and flexibility constitute advantage of plastics
over metal. But at some areas metallic properties are
required, for this plastic part can be coated with metal by
metallization. Through metallization, the specific properties
of plastics are enhanced by the deposition of metallic layer.
The deposition of coating on plastic parts also improves
aesthetics. Coating of plastics is normally undertaken for
either decorative or functional purposes. Increase in
hardness, wear resistance and properties including
reflectivity, abrasion resistance and electrical conductivity
enhance their application range. Plating on plastics therefore
has been developed and widely involved in manufacturing
printed circuit boards (PCBs), automobile parts and in the
electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding applications.
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is an amorphous and
opaque thermoplastic polymer having chemical formula
(C
8
H
8
)
x
· (C
4
H
6
)
y
·(C
3
H
3
N)
z
). Acrylonitrile and styrene are
polymerized in the presence of polybutadiene and the result
comes out to be an ABS polymer. ABS consists of three
monomers which provide the balance of various properties.
Styrene provides rigidity to the copolymer, Acrylonitrile
monomer provides heat resistance and butadiene imparts
good impact strength. ABS is a non-conductive polymer so
for electrodeposition it should be conductive. ABS is made
conductive by applying a silver ink over its surface. The
properties of ABS are shown in Table 1.
Revised Manuscript Received on August 05, 2019.
Vishal Saroha, is pursuing M.E. degree in Manufacturing Technology
at National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research,
Chandigarh 160019, India.
Dr. B. S. Pabla, currently serving as professor in National Institute of
Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chandigarh 160019, India.
Dr. Sukhdev Singh Bhogal, currently serving as Head of Department
of Production Engineering, Chandigarh College of Engineering &
Technology, Chandigarh 160019, India.
TABLE 1 Properties of ABS
Properties
Test
Method
ABS Unit
Yield Tensile
Strength
ASTM
D638
31 MPa
Ultimate Tensile
Strength
ASTM
D638
33 MPa
Tensile Modulus
ASTM
D638
2200 MPa
Flexural Strength
ASTM
D790
35-58 MPa
Flexural Modulus
ASTM
D790
1650-
2100
MPa
ABS, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, has found the widest
acceptance as compare to other polymers in plating industry
due to following advantages-
Low cost
Low coefficient of thermal expansion
Ease of molding
Good metal adhesion to the substrate
Good appearance after plate
Very few data is available concerning electrodeposition of
plastic but a lot of work has been reported on metal plating
of plastic through electroless method. Equbal et al. [1]
comparative study has been done on ABS material for three
different processes of surface preparation for electroless
deposition of copper. The three processes used are coating
of ABS part with Al-paste, surface preparation by chromic
acid and by H
2
SO
4
/H
2
O
2
on ABS part. A uniform copper
deposition and best conductivity is obtained in Al-paste
sample in hydrofluoric acidic bath. The technique of direct
deposition of the Nickel on the polymers and investigated
the microstructure of the metallization. During metal
deposition two layers primary and secondary are formed.
During the first 60 seconds both layers propagate at constant
rate which depend on potential. Morphology of both layer
are same whereas primary layer has relatively low
conductivity due to lack of electrical contact [2].
Tang et al. [3] founded a new process for activation of
surface of plastic. In this a biopolymer is used in fixation of
metal catalyst by the chemical sorption. Activated surface of
ABS for nickel deposition was dipped in nickel plating
solution. Adhesion strength between the layer and surface is
improved by this method. A continuous structure of layer is
obtained at low cost. The electroless plating for coating of
nickel is done on multi wall carbon nanotubes. The surface
was prepared by chemical vapour deposition. First nickel
nanoparticles were deposited at activated surface and then
the layer was thickened depending on the reaction time. It
has been observed that a thin and discontinuous layer is
formed in 15 minutes of reaction time and as the reaction
time increases the layer grew by self-catalytic effect and
thick layer was formed [4].
Metallization of copper on
ABS material which