Abstract
Recently, the demand for Zn-Ni electrogalvanized steel sheets for home appliances and automobiles is increasing. Products should have a thick plating (30 to 40 g/m2) on both side with a thin thickness (≤ 0.8 mm) and the highest surface quality. By a high current density operation, current is concentrated in the edge part of the steel sheet, resulting in large surface dent defects due to dendritic plating. This can lead to a low productivity due to low line speed operation. To solve this problem, this study aimed to identify factors influencing dendritic plating. A cylindrical electroplating device was manufactured. Effects of cut edge shape and thickness of steel plate, current density, temperature, flow rate, electrolyte concentration, and pH on dendrite generation of Zn-Ni electroplating were examined. To investigate effect of edge shape of the steel sheet, the steel sheet was manufactured using three processing methods: shearing, polishing after shearing, and laser. Relative effects thickness and cut edge processing methods of the steel plate, current density, temperature, flow rate, electrolyte concentration, and pH of plating solution on dendrite plating were investigated. To prevent dendrite plating, an edge mask was manufactured and its application effect was investigated.