Materials Science World Congress

Coating and Surface Engineering: Improving Mechanical Properties

Coating and surface engineering are key sectors in enhancing the efficiency, resilience, and appearance of materials used in industries. These methods assist in increasing the corrosion, wear, and environmental degradation resistance by changing the surface properties of the material; therefore they support applications in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and construction industries among others.

Surface engineering is a process that deals with changing the surface of an object to achieve better performance while not affecting the composition of the object. Other heat treatment processes like surface hardening, laser treatment, and ion implantation are employed with the aim of increasing the hardness, wear strength, and fatigue strength of the component. These surface modifications are particularly important in applications that experience high operational stresses including those in turbines, engines, and cutting tools.

Many industries promote the use of coating technologies as an extra barrier to safeguarding structural materials. There are different types of coatings which are paints, varnish, and electrodepositing of metals such as zinc, etc. Corrosion protection coatings commonly named anti-corrosion coating are applied in structures like bridges, pipelines etcetera with the intent of countering material disintegration. Likewise, anti-wear coatings increase the useful lifespan of mechanical and industrial tools by reducing the amount of wear due to friction.

Coatings in the advanced stage of the product development life cycle include nanocoatings and ceramic coatings due to their effectiveness as protective and high-performance coatings. To illustrate this point, let’s take a look at an application that can be solved easily with the help of modern nanocoatings: they offer very thin, yet highly protective layers against moisture, UV light, and chemicals. Ceramic coatings have implications for high thermal stability and are generally used in the aerospace and automotive industries.

This pictorial presents a snapshot of how, as the field of coating and surface engineering advances, it will enhance the service capabilities of the material and pave for further innovative characteristics in high-performance applications across various disciplines.