<p> Pure zinc and zinc/yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) composite coatings for combined wear and corrosion protection of ferrous substrates were prepared by electrodeposition using acidic zinc sulphate solutions containing YSZ and gelatin. The morphology of the electrodeposit was studied by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). X-ray diffraction was employed to determine the texture of the zinc deposits. In the electrodeposition of pure zinc coatings, the influence of electrodeposition parameters, including current density, deposition time and solution pH was studied. It was found that the deposition rate was controlled by the current density and that an increase in deposition time resulted in the formation of deposit microstructures with coarse, columnar grains. The deposits prepared from solutions with lower pH were composed of uniform, fine grains and exhibited a basal plane preferred orientation.</p> <p> The effects of gelatin on zinc electrodeposition were investigated. It was found that the addition of gelatin profoundly modified the microstructure and crystallographic orientation of the zinc deposit. As the gelatin concentration increased, the mean grain size of zinc deposit was reduced and the basal plane preferred orientation was inhibited. The modification of the microstructure and orientation by gelatin increased microhardness of the zinc coating. However, the corrosion protection property which was assessed by potentiodynamic polarization test was not significantly changed.</p> <p> In the study on composite coatings, the incorporation of ceramic particles in the zinc deposit was characterized as a function of the deposition solution composition. The effect of ceramic particles on the hardness of the composite coatings was assessed by microhardness. The corrosion potential of the composite coating was determined by potentiodynamic polarization tests. The results showed that decrease in solution pH and addition of gelatin promoted the co-deposition of ceramic particles with zinc. The mechanical and corrosion properties of conventional zinc coatings were improved by the incorporation of ceramic particles.</p> / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à la caractérisation des mécanismes de déformation et de leurs interactions pour un zinc polycristallin pur, sous les conditions de chargement complexe et local qui caractérisent l'essai de nanoindentation. En effet, l'interaction des différents mécanismes mis en jeu a généralement été étudiée sur la base de sollicitations dites simples, telles que les essais de traction uniaxiale, biaxiale… Sous l'action d'un chargement uniforme, la prépondérance d'un système particulier sera conditionnée par l'orientation du cristal et par le sens du chargement par rapport à l'axe sénaire. La situation peut être rendue plus complexe dans le cas d'un chargement non simple, comme c'est le cas de l'essai d'indentation. Nous avons réalisé des essais de nanoindentation sur des grains de différentes orientations cristallographiques (mesurées par EBSD), et les résultats obtenus en termes de courbes "charge-profondeur de pénétration" et topographie des empreintes résiduelles ont été analysés. La complexité de l'état de contrainte qui se développe dans le matériau dépend des caractéristiques géométriques de l'indenteur et des orientations cristallographiques en présence, ce qui peut donner lieu à diverses interactions entre les modes de déformation. Ces interactions impacteront directement l'écoulement plastique local du matériau, et par voie de conséquence les propriétés mécaniques macroscopiques du matériau. En adoptant une loi de comportement en plasticité cristalline, nous avons ensuite procédé à la détermination des cissions résolues critiques et des paramètres d'écrouissage pour les différents mécanismes observés. Cette détermination s'est basée sur la résolution d'un problème inverse, au cours duquel nous avons couplé la simulation numérique 3D de l'essai de nanoindentation à l'identification des paramètres de la loi de comportement au moyen d'algorithmes génétiques. La confrontation des résultats expérimentaux et numériques en termes de courbes "charge-profondeur de pénétration" et profils de déformation montrent la bonne adéquation entre les données expérimentales et le modèle identifié. Les résultats obtenus ont ainsi permis de caractériser les mécanismes de déformation observés, et de proposer des perspectives à ce travail. / Within the scope of this thesis, we focused on the characterization of deformation mechanisms and their interactions for pure polycrystalline zinc under complex and local loading conditions such that those involved in a nanoindentation test. Indeed, the interaction between the different mechanisms involved has generally been studied on the basis of so-called simple tests, such as uniaxial or biaxial tensile tests ... Given uniform loading conditions, the predominance of a given deformation system depends on the crystal orientation and the loading direction relative to the crystal c-axis. The situation may be further complicated in case of a complex stress state, as it is the case of the indentation test. We performed nanoindentation tests on grains of different crystallographic orientations (measured by EBSD) and the results (curves "load-penetration depth" and topography of residual imprints) were analyzed. The complexity of the stress state that develops underneath the indenter depends on both the geometrical characteristics of the latter and the crystallographic orientations of the grains, which can give rise to different interactions between the deformation modes. Those interactions will directly affect the local plastic flow, and thus the mechanical properties of the macroscopic material.By using a crystal plasticity model, we have then determined the critical resolved shear stresses and hardening parameters for the observed deformation mechanisms. This determination is based on the solution of an inverse problem, in which we have coupled 3D numerical simulations of the nanoindentation test to genetic algorithms to solve an optimization problem. Comparison between experimental and numerical results in terms of "load-penetration depth" curves and penetration depth profiles show a good agreement between the experimental data and the identified model. The results enabled to characterize the observed deformation mechanisms, and to provide perspectives to this work.