Comparing the Ranking of Cobalt Coating Microstructures, Produced by Direct Current through Experimental Studies and the Analytic Hierarchy Process

In recent years, cobalt has been known as an alternative coating material to chromium in corrosion and erosion resistant applications. Extensive research has been carried out on a variety of electroplated cobalt coatings. In this study, for the first time, the relative priority of cobalt coatings has been evaluated by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), in combination with empirical methods. In the first step, Cu substrates have been coated with Co under different experimental conditions. The SEM micrographs of Co coatings have been analyzed via image analysis (Clemex) software. In the second step, through the AHP and the Expert Choice software, benefiting from expert opinions, the relative weights of the effective parameters with an influence on microstructure have been calculated. Subsequently, by using the weights obtained, the relative priority of alternatives was calculated and the quality of coatings was ranked. The predicted ranking has been found to be in consistence with the experimental results. This result shows that before experimental tests, the best alternatives to achieve the ultimate goal could be anticipated. This anticipation leads to reduce in trial and error and the multiplicity of the tests in investigations.