Quality control and assurance in advanced surface engineering PDF

Generally, the traditional, well-established industrial practices of surface engineering have developed over many years and there is often an historical dimension which is punctuated with particular well-recognised, approved and published quality standards, each reflecting critical stages in these developments, and the continuing drive to achieve true fitness for purpose. In contrast, advanced surface engineering techniques, perhaps epitomised by the physical vapour deposition (PVD) ion plating processes, have developed very rapidly over the last decade or so. As a result, there is still much yet to be researched and learnt about advanced coatings so-produced (such as TiN, ZrN, TiAlN etc.), not only in terms of their basic structure/property relationships, but especially in relation to their reliable, quantifiable performance - for example, in tribological application areas such as tooling and dies. Within a brief review of some of the factors involved in the design of such coating systems, significant basic properties and characteristics of hard coatings materials are identified, together with corresponding requirements in their use as coatings. The limited information published in the open literature describing the established correlations between certain of these properties/characteristics of coatings and their tribological performance is reviewed, information of the type which could be used to begin to establish quality control and assurance parameters. Finally, the need for a national and international approach to this critical topic area, including a focussed research and development effort, is briefly considered

Edited by: K.N. Strafford, C. Subramanian