Electrolytic cadmium plating for cadmium coating as the AISI 4130 steel corrosion protector

Corrosion protection of AISI 4130 steel was carried out by electrolytic cadmium coating process. This research determines the proper process so that the coating formed in accordance with the standard. Cadmium electroplating done with a variation of the current density of 0.5, 2.5, and 8 A/dm2 and the coating time of 10, 20, and 30 minutes. The thickness results were measured by Eddy currant method and tested quantitatively with appearence and adherence tests. Corrosion testing is conducted by inserting the specimen into the salt spray chamber for 336 hours and calculating the corrosion rate using the weight lose method. The resulted data shows that the greater the current density and the coating time, the thicker the layers formed by exponentially increasing. The highest thickness value is 193.27 µm with an exponential equation y= 12.813 e0.3727x which is obtained when the current density is 8 A/dm2 and the coating time is 30 minutes. The lowest corrosion rate obtained is 0.00009 mpy. Cadmium coating with a current density of 2.5 A/dm2 for the 20 minute coating time is an optimal process in providing corrosion protection against AISI 4130 steel.