Surface Defect Mitigation of Additively Manufactured Parts Using Surfactant-Mediated Electroless Nickel Coatings.

The emergence of defects during the early production phases of ferrous-alloy additively manufactured (AM) parts poses a serious threat to their versatility and adversely impacts their overall mechanical performance in industries ranging from aerospace engineering to medicine. Lack of fusion and gas entrapment during the manufacturing stages leads to increased surface roughness and porosities in the finished part. In this study, the efficacy of employing electroless nickel-boron (Ni-B) deposition to fill and level simulated AM defects was evaluated.