Title: Maximising hardness of nickel-diamond composite metal matrix using PSO

Authors: K. Ramanathan, U. Natarajan, V.M. Periasamy, Malathy Pushpavanam

Addresses: A.C. College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi 630 004, TN, India. ' A.C. College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi 630 004, TN, India. ' B.S.A. Crescent Engineering College, Vandalur, Chennai 600 048, TN, India. ' A.C. College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi 630 004, TN, India

Abstract: This paper presents an efficient and reliable swarm intelligence-based approach, namely particle swarm optimisation (PSO) technique, to optimise the hardness and the parameters that affect the hardness in the Ni-Diamond composite coatings. Particle swarm optimisers are inherently distributed algorithms, in which the solution for a problem emerges from the interactions between many simple individuals called particles. Nickel-diamond composite coatings are produced by electro deposition using sedimentation technique on mild steel substrate at various cathode current densities, pH and temperatures. Electro deposition was carried out from a conventional Watts bath. Natural diamond powder of 6-12 μm size was used in the study. The hardness value of composite coated specimens were measured using Vickers micro indentation technique. Non-linear regression model was developed using experimental data and was used as an objective function for optimising hardness and their influencing parameters. The optimised hardness of Ni-diamond metal matrix was found to be 455 VHN at pH = 3.37, Current density = 1.86 A/dm² and temperature = 30°C.

Keywords: nickel-diamond composite coatings; Vickers hardness; VHN; regression model; particle swarm optimisation; PSO; composites.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCMSSE.2010.036219

International Journal of Computational Materials Science and Surface Engineering, 2010 Vol.3 No.4, pp.311 - 320

Published online: 31 Oct 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article