Study of electroless nickel plating on PerFactory TM rapid prototype model

This paper presents an investigation of electroless nickel plating on PerFactory TM rapid prototype model built on PerFactoryTM R05 material. PerFactory TM R05 is acrylic based photo sensitive resin. It is a popular material in rapid prototyping using PerFactory TM method which employs addictive manufacturing technique to build prototypes for visual inspection, assembly etc. Metallization of such a prototype can extend the application envelop of the rapid prototyping technique as they can be used in many functional applications. Unlike the electroless nickel plating on metal substrate, the process on acrylic resin substrate is not auto-catalytic. Hence, etching and activation are necessary for initiating the process. The final coating is then investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) together with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis to identify the morphology and structure of the coating. The SEM & EDS analysis on surface and chemical composition of model surface after each preliminary surface treatment are also presented. Finally the layer is tested on Vickers micro hardness tester.