On Coating Techniques for Surface Protection: A Review

A wide variety of coating methods and materials are available for different coating applications with a common purpose of protecting a part or structure exposed to mechanical or chemical damage. A benefit of this protective function is to decrease manufacturing cost since fabrication of new parts is not needed. Available coating materials include hard and stiff metallic alloys, ceramics, bio-glasses, polymers, and engineered plastic materials, giving designers a variety freedom of choices for durable protection. To date, numerous processes such as physical/chemical vapor deposition, micro-arc oxidation, sol–gel, thermal spraying, and electrodeposition processes have been introduced and investigated. Although…