An electroplating process for coating a ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate with an aluminum coating, characterised in that the process comprises: a) pre-treatment of the aluminum anode substrate comprising: i) mechanical polishing an aluminum anode substrate, ii) alkaline cleaning the polished aluminum substrate followed by water rinsing, iii) deoxidizing the alkaline-cleaned aluminum substrate followed by water rinsing, and iv) drying the deoxidized aluminum substrate to obtain a polished, clean, deoxidized and dry aluminum anode substrate; b) pre-treatment of the ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate comprising: v) degreasing the ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate, and vi) dry-blasting the degreased ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate, followed by removing any powder remaining in the surface of the stripped degreased ferrous alloy steel substrate to obtain a degreased and blasted ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate; c) immersing the polished, cleaned, deoxidized and dried aluminum anode substrate pre-treated in step a) in an aluminum plating bath formulation consisting of: - a range from 95.30 to 99.95 wt% of a mixture of aluminum trichloride and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, wherein both components are present in the mixture in a molar ratio ranging from 80:40 to 60:40, - a range from 0.01 to 1.0 wt% of 1,10-phenantroline, and - a range from 0.04 to 3.7 wt% of KCI; d) etching the degreased and dry-blasted ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate pre-treated in step b) by immersing it into the aluminum plating bath formulation of step c) and performing an anodic polarization step; e) electroplating the etched ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate of step d) with the aluminum plating bath formulation of step c), wherein step e) is carried out with a current density ranging from 1 to 100 mA/cm 2, at a temperature ranging from 20 to 100°C and under a dry inert gas; f) rinsing the aluminum coated ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate obtained in step e); and g) heat treatment to the aluminum coated ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate obtained in step f). a) pre-treatment of the aluminum anode substrate comprising: i) mechanical polishing an aluminum anode substrate, ii) alkaline cleaning the polished aluminum substrate followed by water rinsing, iii) deoxidizing the alkaline-cleaned aluminum substrate followed by water rinsing, and iv) drying the deoxidized aluminum substrate to obtain a polished, clean, deoxidized and dry aluminum anode substrate; i) mechanical polishing an aluminum anode substrate, ii) alkaline cleaning the polished aluminum substrate followed by water rinsing, iii) deoxidizing the alkaline-cleaned aluminum substrate followed by water rinsing, and iv) drying the deoxidized aluminum substrate to obtain a polished, clean, deoxidized and dry aluminum anode substrate; b) pre-treatment of the ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate comprising: v) degreasing the ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate, and vi) dry-blasting the degreased ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate, followed by removing any powder remaining in the surface of the stripped degreased ferrous alloy steel substrate to obtain a degreased and blasted ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate; v) degreasing the ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate, and vi) dry-blasting the degreased ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate, followed by removing any powder remaining in the surface of the stripped degreased ferrous alloy steel substrate to obtain a degreased and blasted ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate; c) immersing the polished, cleaned, deoxidized and dried aluminum anode substrate pre-treated in step a) in an aluminum plating bath formulation consisting of: - a range from 95.30 to 99.95 wt% of a mixture of aluminum trichloride and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, wherein both components are present in the mixture in a molar ratio ranging from 80:40 to 60:40, - a range from 0.01 to 1.0 wt% of 1,10-phenantroline, and - a range from 0.04 to 3.7 wt% of KCI; - a range from 95.30 to 99.95 wt% of a mixture of aluminum trichloride and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, wherein both components are present in the mixture in a molar ratio ranging from 80:40 to 60:40, - a range from 0.01 to 1.0 wt% of 1,10-phenantroline, and - a range from 0.04 to 3.7 wt% of KCI; d) etching the degreased and dry-blasted ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate pre-treated in step b) by immersing it into the aluminum plating bath formulation of step c) and performing an anodic polarization step; e) electroplating the etched ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate of step d) with the aluminum plating bath formulation of step c), wherein step e) is carried out with a current density ranging from 1 to 100 mA/cm 2, at a temperature ranging from 20 to 100°C and under a dry inert gas; f) rinsing the aluminum coated ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate obtained in step e); and g) heat treatment to the aluminum coated ferrous alloy steel cathode substrate obtained in step f).