Metal alloy coatings: Physical, wear-related, and other surface characteristics

Abstract

The types, properties, and processes for metal alloy coatings are reviewed from the viewpoints of material properties, metallurgy, and tribology. Although other materials such as ceramics and polymers are used to coat materials to provide various useful properties, coatings consisting of metals and metal alloys offer excellent corrosion and wear resistances as well as useful physical, mechanical and high-temperature properties. Furthermore, metals and alloys provide a much wider range of properties than other coating materials. This, combined with numerous sophisticated coating processes recently developed, makes them the choice of coating in a large number of applications. This review has been written with an emphasis on coatings consisting of metal alloys as opposed to single metals. It is hoped that this review will serve as a useful source for literature survey as well as an introduction to the subject of surface modification with metals and metal, alloys.