Nickel Institute > Applications of Engineering Nickel Plating
By Dr. S. Alec Watson, Dec 1990. For engineering applications, nickel electrodeposits are applied for their physical and mechanical properties. Brightness and levelling are rarely needed. Also, nickel thickness is usually greater and engineering nickel coatings are often referred to as heavy nickel or thick nickel. In both decorative and engineering plating, it is stated, the objectives are the same: to upgrade a relatively inexpensive basis metal by imparting to its surface the superior properties of the coating metal. In the case of nickel, these properties include improved resistance to corrosion, erosion, scaling, fretting and wear.