Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


-----

Does electroless nickel induce cracking in mild steel welds?

We've just welded up some mild steel flanges (1018/1020) to an A53 pipe, then electroless nickel plated the assembly. Small cracks have been noted in the final piece and questions are arising as to whether it was the welding process that created the cracks, or the post-weld plating. Has anyone ever experienced weld cracking as a result of applying electroless nickel? These parts were heat treated to stress relieve the welds prior to nickel plating.

Christopher Stoner
- Burnaby, BC, Canada
2003

Whole lot of hydrogen goin on. I could imagine stress. To quantify LECO LABS. St. Joseph, MI. They can for a couple hundred buck do a hydrogen fusion analysis; before and after.

Jon Quirt
- Fridley, Minnesota
2003

Very unlikely that EN plating will crack steel weldments if already stress relieved. I would be more inclined to think the cracks were already there and the plating just made them visible.

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2003

---

Turns out that the parts were not stress relieved prior to plating, and the cracks in the welds were due to no heat pretreatment, improper electrode selection, and poor setup. We had a local failure analysis company do the investigation for us and that is what they concluded. Hydrogen generation is not a factor in this case, but to be certain we will be specifying a stress relieving operation prior to EN plating, along with full penetration welds, for all future fab'ed parts.

Thanks,

Christopher Stoner
- Burnaby, BC, Canada
2003