Surface Engineering

by
K. N. Ganapathi
 Session Objectives
• At the end of this session student should
have understood
1. Basics of surface engineering
2. Various surface cleaning methods
3. Surface engineering for wear and
corrosion
Why Surface treatment?
Why Surface treatment?
 Surface treatment
• What is surface treatment?
• Serviceable engineering components not only rely on their
bulk material properties but also on the design and
characteristics of their surface. This is especially true in
wear resistant components, as their surface must perform
many engineering functions in a variety of complex
environments. The behaviour of a material is therefore
greatly dependent on the surface of a material, surface
contact area and the environment under which the
material must operate. The surface of these components
may require treatment, to enhance the surface
characteristics.
 Surface treatment
• Component performance depends on
• Materials (bulk) mechanical & physical properties
• Components surface

• Surface`s Physical, Chemical, Metallurgical and

Mechanical properties depends on
1. Material
2. Processing history
3. Environment to which material is exposed.
Why surface treatment?

• To improve resistance to wear, erosion and

indentations
• Control friction.
• Reduce adhesion( electrical contacts)
• Improve lubrication
• Improve resistance to corrosion & oxidation.
• Improve fatigue resistance ( bearings and shafts)
• Modify surface texture.
• Rebuild surfaces on worn components
• Impart decorative features.
Surface treatment

Components in a typical automobile with surface treatment

Components by Surface engineering
Application Method Factor of life
improvement
Drill PVD 6-7
Carbide end mill PVD 8
Form tool CVD 4-5
Extrusion punch CVD 35
High speed tool Ion 4
Implantation
Slitter for rubber Ion 12
Implantation
Milling cutter PVD 3-4
Surface structure and properties

• Metal substate
(bulk material)
• Work hardened
area
• Beilby layer.
• Oxide layer
• Adsorbed gases &
water layer.
• Contaminant.
• Surface integrity
1. Cracks
2. Folds or seams
3. Heat effected zone
4. Inclusions etc
• Surface texture
1. Roughness
2. Flaws (scratches,
depressions)
3. Waviness
4. Lay (directionality)
 Surface Engineering
• Improve adhesion
• Thermal insulation
• Release or nonstick
• Control thermal emmisivity
• Electromagnetic interference shield
• Moisture barrier
• Enhance mechanical forming processes
Cleaning Surfaces
• Beneficial and detrimental
• Essential for application of coating, painting,
adhesive bonding, welding, brazing and
soldering
• Not cleaned surface may reduce the
tendency for adhesion and galling
• Involves removal of solid, semisolid, liquid
components from surface
Cleaning

Types of contaminants
1)Oil, grease, lubricants etc

2)Dust

3)Tarnish or dust developed

During storage or handling

4)Polishing residues soaps,

Abrasives.

5)Solder flux residues

 Cleaning
• Removal of solids, semisolid and liquid contamination
from the surface

Cleaning Common fluids

Alkaline solutions

Emulsions
Ultrasonic Mechanical Chemical
Solvents

Hot vapor
1) Wire or fiber brushing 1) Solvent cleaning
2) Blasting 2) Saponification Acid salts
3) Tumbling 3) Emulsification
4) Steam jets 4)Acid cleaning Organic compound
mixture
Cleaning
• Ultrasonic cleaning
1. Very popular in industries
2. Use high frequency sound waves (18 KHz) to
remove a variety of contaminants from parts
immersed in aqueous media
3. These waves generate bubbles which grows.
4. Very high energy is stored in a bubble with high
tempr with high pressure up to 500 atm.
5. Implosion of bubble changes bubble into jet which
travels at a speed of 400 km/hr towards
component & hit it which free all contaminations.
Shot peening

• Cold working process.

• Part is bombarded with small
spherical shots imparting
small indentations
• Improve fatigue life.
• Used for shafts, Gears,
Springs, jet engine parts.
 Laser peening
• Laser peening drives a high amplitude
shock wave into a material surface using a
high energy pulsed laser.

• residual compressive stresses deep into

part surfaces – typically five to ten times
deeper than conventional metal shot
peening.

• Laser peening is an innovative surface

enhancement process used to increase
the resistance of aircraft gas turbine
engine compressor and fan blades to
foreign object damage (FOD) and improve
high cycle fatigue (HCF) life.
Comparison
 Water jet peening

• Water jet at 400Mpa pressure impinges

on the surface of the work piece.
• Inducing Compressive stresses and
surface and sub surface hardening.
• WJP is widely used for medical, public
and mechanical engineering applications
because it does not generate heat
effected zone.
• Used for steel and Al alloys.
• Jet pressure, jet velocity, distance from
the surface, design of nozzle are
important parameters to avoid surface
roughness and surface damage.
Mechanical plating

• Mechanical plating is a process of depositing a

metallic coating over the metal components using
Mechanical energy.
• Using MP we can apply Zn, Ni, Sn, Pb, Au, Ag, Cu
and Cd on various components and products.
• Industries extensively use MP are the Aerospace,
Automotive, Electronics, Marine and Construction
Inds.
• No Hydrogen embitterment, no baking required,
Economical for thick coatings ( above 0.075 mm).
• Process consistency.
 ELECTROPLATING

Electroplating can be explained as a thin layer of

different metals or metal alloys coated on a metal
surface for decoration and protection
Examples …..
• Electroplating on MS - Zinc, Cadmium, Copper, Tin,
Zinc Alloys, Nickel, Chromium, Gold, Silver
Anodising on Aluminium- Oxidation of surface layer
 Electroplating
• Chemical cleaning and degreasing of
the work piece is essential.
• All metals can be electro plated up to
max of 0.05mm.
• Plastics such as ABS, Polypropylene,
polycarbonate, polyester and nylon
can be electroplated.
• Cr, Ni, Cd, Cu, Zn and Sn are the
common plating materials.
 Basic Process
Electroplating is a chemical process in which a metal in
form of ions in the solution are made to move by
electric force and get deposited uniformly on the job
(electrode)
The process uses DC electrical current to move metal
ions (cations) of a desired metal from a solution and
form a thin layer on conductive object with a metal
coat
 Principle of electroplating
The job to be plated is CATHODE. The ANODE is the
metal to be plated. e.g. if copper is to be plated on Iron
job, it is Cathode and the Anode is a copper electrode.
Both are immersed in a solution called as Electrolyte
that contains dissolved metal salts that permit the flow
of electricity
RECTIFIER supplies positive charge to the anode
which helps metal ions to get deposited on cathode
The rate of deposition depends on the current density
 Electroplating process Flow
Inward Inspection &
Corrections

Loading on Racks

Cleaning

Plating

Passivation

Top Coat Application

Final Inspection & Correction

ep Electroplating Technology for Engineers
Types of Electroplating
Anodisi
ng
 Electroplating Needs
The electroplating process is used for providing a
desired shine, abrasion, wear resistance, corrosion
protection, lubricity and to improve aesthetics of a
metal surface

For functional purposes (Tin, Silver, Hard Chrome)

For decoration (Nickel, Chromium, Silver, Gold)
Improves service life of product. Resists corrosion
Even at lower coating thickness of fasteners
Electroplating
•Au, Ag, Platinum, are
the common plating
materials for electronics
and jewelry inds.
•Complex shapes,
internal and external
sharp corners may have
varying plating
thickness.
Advantages of electroplating
Good service life / Corrosion
Protection
Aesthetics
Abrasion resistance
Chemical resistance
Weldability / Solderability
Conductivity
Self sacrificing property
Barrier layer
Thickness build
Engineering or mechanical
properties
 Limitations of electroplating
• The electrolytes are hazardous and poisonous
• Extensive effluent treatment needed
• If the shapes and sizes of anodes & cathodes are not
appropriate, the deposited thickness can vary
• Component has to be conductive
• Plating cannot be processed on site
• All metals cannot be plated on all metals e.g. Zinc
plating cannot be done on Gold or Silver
• Rack / jigging hanging Marks on jobs
• Non Uniform Coating
• Hydrogen entrapping
• Rack / Jigging deposition needs to stripped
• Different Rack designs needed for different shapes of
jobs
 Electroplating Purpose
To improve-
• Aesthetics
• Corrosion Resistance
• Thickness build
• Abrasion resistance
• Chemical resistance
• Weldability / Solderability
• Conductivity
• Engineering or mechanical properties
 Industrial Segments
• Automotive
• Heavy Equipments
• Electrical
• Electronics &
Telecom
• General Industry
• Aerospace
• Medical Equipment
• Hardware
• Power generation
• Wind mill
• Jewelry
 Electroforming
• Electroforming is a highly
specialized process for fabricating a
metal part by electro deposition in
a plating bath over a base form or
mandrel which is subsequently
removed.
• The advantage of the
electroforming process is that it
faithfully reproduces the form or
mandrel exactly, to within one
micron, without the shrinkage and
distortion associated with other
metal forming techniques such as
casting, stamping or drawing.
 Electroforming

• since the mandrel is

machined as an outside
surface, close dimensional
tolerances and high surface
finishes can be held and
maintained on complex
interior configurations.
 Electroforming
• This process is suitable for low
production quantities.
• Intricate parts such as molds,
dies, nozzles, bellows etc made
up of nickel, copper, gold, and
silver can be produced using EF
process.
• EF components are used for
aerospace, electronics and
electro optics applications.
 Thermal spraying
• Coatings are applied to metal surfaces
by a spray gun with a stream of oxy
fuel flame, electric arc or plasma arc.
• Coating material is in the form of wire,
rod, or powder.
• Thermal spray materials like
Molybdenum, Tungsten, and
Aluminium / metal composites
produce so called "self bonding"
coatings. These materials have
comparatively high bond strengths
(increased metallurgical or diffusion
bonding ) and can bond to clean
polished substrates
 Thermal spraying
• Typical applications
1. Aircraft engine components
( rebuilding worn parts).
2. Storage tanks.
3. Rocket motor nozzles.
4. Repair of worn turbine
engine shaft.
 Powder coating
• Powder coating is a type of coating that is
applied as a free flowing, dry powder
• Powder coating doesn't require a solvent to
keep the binder and filler parts in a liquid
suspension form
• Coating is applied electrostatically and is then
cured under heat to allow it to flow and form
a skin
• Used mainly for metal like whiteware,
automobile and bicycle parts
Painting
• Widely used surface coatings because of its decorative
and functional properties.
• Dipping, spaying, brushing are the methods of applying
coatings.
• Paints are classified as
1. Enamels 2. Lacquer 3. water base paints.

Methods of paint application: (a) dip coating, (b) flow coating, and (c)
electrostatic spraying (used particularly for automotive bodies).
 Blackening
• Black oxide or blackening is a conversion coating for
ferrous materials, stainless steel, copper and copper
based alloys, zinc, powdered metals, and silver solder. It is
used to add mild corrosion resistance, for appearance,
and to minimize light reflection.
• Hot blackening involves dipping the part into various
tanks. The workpiece is usually "dipped" by automated
part carriers for transportation between tanks. These
tanks contain, in order, alkaline cleaner, water, caustic
soda at 140.5 °C (284.9 °F) (the blackening compound),
and finally the sealant, which is usually oil.
Blackening
Following metal can be blackened
• Steel.
• Stainless Steel.
• Cast Iron.
• Aluminum.
• Copper, Brass, & Bronze.
• Nickel.
• Cadmium.
• Zinc.

• Blackening can be done in large batches (ideal for small parts)

• There is no significant dimensional impact (the blacking process
• creates a layer about 1 µm thick).
• It is far cheaper than similar corrosion protection systems, such
as paint and electroplating.
Thank you