Surface Treatments and Coatings

1. 0 Introduction
After a part has been manufactured, it may require further treatment of surfaces in order to:

Improve resistance to wear, erosion, and indentation machine tool ways, wear
surfaces of machinery, and shafts, rolls, cams and gears
Control friction sliding surfaces, dies, bearings, machine ways
Reduce adhesion electrical contacts
Improve lubrication surface modification to retain lubricants
Improve resistance to corrosion and oxidation automotive sheet-metal body panels,
gas turbine components, food packaging and medical devices
Improve fatigue resistance
Rebuild surfaces worn tools, dies and other components
Modify surface texture appearance, dimensional accuracy and frictional
characteristics
Impart decorative features colour and texture

1.1 Mechanical surface treatments

There are several different mechanical surface treatment techniques but one worth more
detailed description is Shot Peening. In shot peening, the workpiece surface is impacted
repeatedly with a large number of cast steel, glass or ceramic shot (small balls) which make
overlapping indentations on the surface. This action causes plastic surface deformation at
depths up to 1.25mm using shot size that varies from 0.125 to 5mm in diameter. Plastic
deformation is caused near the surface of the part (and therefore non-uniform throughout
the thickness of the part). This results in compressive residual stresses on the surface, thus
improving the fatigue life of the component by delaying the fatigue crack initiation. Shot
peening is used extensively on shafts, gears, springs, oil-well drilling equipment and jetengine parts (such as turbine and compressor blades).
1.2 Case hardening and hard facing
Surfaces may be hardened by thermal means in order to improve their frictional and wear
properties as well as their resistance to indentation, erosion, abrasion and corrosion.
Case hardening
There are many traditional methods of case hardening that include carburizing,
carbonitrining, cyaniding, nitriding, flame hardening and induction hardening. In addition to
the common heat sources of gas and electricity used for these processes, an electron beam
or laser beam can also be used as a heat source in surface hardening of both metals and
ceramics.
Hard facing
In this process, a relatively thick layer, edge, or point of wear-resistant hard metal is
deposited on the workpiece surface, using fusion-welding techniques. Numerous layers
(known as weld overlay) can be deposited to repair worn parts. Worn parts can be hard
faced for extended use. In Spark Hardening, hard coatings of tungsten, chromium, or
molybdenum carbides can be deposited using an electric arc. This method is alternatively
known as electric spark hardening or electrospark deposition. Typical applications included
are for valve seats and dies for hot metalworking.

2. Painting
Painting is widely used as a surface coating because of its decorative and functional
properties environmental protection, low cost, relative ease of application and range of
available colours. Engineering applications of painting range from appliances and machine
tools to automotive bodies and aircraft fuselages. Paints are generally classified as
1. Enamels Produce a smooth coat and dry with a glossy or semi-glossy appearance.
2. Lacquers Form a film by evaporation of a solvent
3. Water-based paints Applied easily but have a porous surface and absorb water, making
them more difficult to clean than the first two types.
Paints can offer good resistance to abrasion, temperature extremes and fading. They are
easy to apply; and quick to dry.
Selection depends on application:
Mechanical - resistance to abrasion, impact and flexing
Chemical resistance to acids, alkalis, solvents, detergents, fuels, staining, and general
environmental attack.
Methods of applying include, dipping, brushing, rolling and spaying.
In electrocoating or electrostatic spraying, paint particles are charged electrostatically and
are thus attracted to surfaces to be painted producing a uniform adherent coating. Unlike
conventional spaying, in which as much as 70% of the paint may be lost, the loss can be as
little as 10% in electrostatic spaying. However, deep recesses and corners can be difficult to
coat with this method. The use of robotic controls for guiding the spray nozzles are
common.

3. Thermal Spraying
This process is alternatively known as metallizing (which stems back to the origins of the
process in the 1910s, involving metals). It can be one of a series of processes in which
coating of various metals, alloys, carbides, ceramics and polymers are applied to metal
surfaces by a spray gun with a stream of oxyfuel flame, electric arc or plasma arc. The
coating material can be in the form of a wire, rod, or powder, and when the droplets or
particles impact the workpiece, they solidify and bond to the surface. Temperature of the
process is in the range of 3000 to 8000 C. The coating is hard and wear resistant with a
layered structure of deposited material, however can be 20% porous due to entrapped air
and oxide particles. Bond strength can vary and is dependant on a number of factors
including process parameter variations and techniques.
Typical applications include aircraft engine components (such as rebuilding worn parts),
structures, rocket motor nozzles and components that require resistance to wear and
corrosion.
In automotive applications, thermal spaying can be applied to the following components:
crankshaft, valves, fuel-injection nozzle, piston rings and engine block.
4. Vapour Deposition
In this process the workpiece surface is subjected to chemical reaction by gases that contain
chemical compounds of the materials to be deposited. The coating thickness is small (only a
few m) so much less than thermal spraying. The deposited materials can consist of metals,
alloys, carbides, nitrides, ceramics or oxides. The workpiece surface may be metal, plastic,
glass or even paper. Typical applications for this method includes the coating of cutting

tools, drills, reamers, milling cutters, punches, dies and wear surfaces. Two major vapourdeposition processes are physical vapour deposition and chemical vapour deposition. In the
former, the particles to be deposited are carried physically to the workpiece rather than
carried by chemical reactions as in chemical vapour depositioning. The processes are
carried out in high vacuum and at temperatures ranging from 200 to 500C.
Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) is a thermochemical process. In a typical application
such as the coating of cutting tools with titanium nitride (TiN), the tools are placed on a
graphite tray and heated at 950 to 1050C at atmospheric pressure in an inert atmosphere.
Titanium tetrachloride (a vapour), hydrogen and nitrogen are then introduced into the
chamber. The chemical reactions form titanium nitride on the tool surfaces. For a coating of
titanium carbide, methane is used instead of the other gases. Deposited coatings are usually
thicker than those obtained by physical vapour deposition (PVD). A typical cycle of
chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is long, consisting of (a) three hours of heating (b) four
hours of coating and (c) six to eight hours of cooling to room temperature. Coating
thickness depends on the flow rates of the gases used, the time and the temperature. The
types of coatings and workpiece materials allowable are fairly unrestricted in CVD. Almost
any material can be coated and any material can serve as a substrate (workpiece surface)
although bond strength may vary.
5. Electroplating
In electroplating, the workpiece (cathode) is plated with a different metal (anode), which is
transferred through a water-based electrolytic solution. The process involves a number of
reactions but the basic process consists of:
1. Metal ions from the anode are discharged using the potential energy from the external
source of electricity.
2. The metal ions are dissolved into the solution
3. they are deposited on the cathode.
The amount of plating deposited on the workpiece depends on a the current, time and
efficiency of the system. This can vary from 1m to as much as 500m.
The plating solutions are either strong acids or cyanide solutions. There are three main
forms of electroplating; rack plating, barrel plating and brush plating. In barrel plating,
small parts are placed inside a permeable barrel, which is placed inside the process tank.
Electrolytic fluid can penetrate through the barrel. Typically this method is applied for
plating small parts such as bolts, nuts, gears, fittings etc.
Common plating metals are chromium, nickel (corrosion protection), cadmium, copper
(corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity), and tin and zinc (corrosion protection for
steel).
Plastics such as ABS, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyester and nylon can also be
electroplated but because they are not electrically conductive, they must be preplated using
a process such as electroless nickel plating. Parts to be coated may be simple or complex,
and size is not a limitation.
6. Hot Dipping
In hot dipping, the workpiece (usually steel or iron) is dipped into a bath of molten metal
such as
a.
Zinc for galvanized-steel sheet and plumbing supplies
b.
Tin for tin plate and tin cans for food containers
c.
Aluminium

d.
Terne an alloy of lead with 10 to 20% tin.
Hot-dipped coating on discrete parts provide long-term corrosion resistance to galvanised
pipes, plumbing supplies and many other products.
A typical continuous hot-dipped galvanising line for sheet steel is shown in one of the
diagrams. The rolled sheet first is cleaned electrolytically and scrubbed by brushing. The
sheet is then annealed in a continuous furnace with controlled atmosphere and temperature
and dipped in molten zinc at about 450C. The thickness of zinc coating is controlled by a
wiping action from a stream of air or steam, called an air knife. Proper draining of the
access material is important. The coating thickness is given in terms of weight per unit
surface area of the sheet, typically 150 to 900 g/m2. Service life depends on the thickness of
the zinc coating and the operating environment.