Electrodeposition of composition‐modulated alloys in a fluctuating flow field

The effect of fluctuating flow on the electrodeposition of binary alloys is analyzed by numerically solving the transient Navier‐Stokes and species continuity equations for a rotating disk electrode system. Timeperiodic modulations of the flow field and the electrode potential are studied and shown to induce periodic deposition rates for a mass‐transfer‐limited species and an activation‐limited species, respectively. Dimensionless groups are formulated to characterize the operating regimes, where composition‐modulated alloys electrodeposit from a single electrolyte and where fluctuating flow influences the composition distribution of the deposit. It is shown that changing the phase angle difference between the flow and potential modulation waveforms can modify the composition gradients in the deposited alloy, whereas other features of the alloy, such as the total composition variation, are affected less by fluctuating flow.