Surface Engineering/NAM S&T Centre

Surface Engineering’, by definition, is the “synergistic combination of bulk and surface materials to yield a system with properties that neither is capable of providing on its own”. In the modern industrial world, this approach is being increasingly adopted to achieve increased reliability and enhanced performance of degradation-prone industrial components. It encompasses coating and surface treatment processes, capable of altering surface properties to provide improved resistance against deterioration due to mechanisms such as corrosion, oxidation, wear or failure under an excessive heat load. The wide spectrum of surface technologies accessible to design engineers today include electro-deposition, diffusion coatings, thermal spraying, physical and chemical vapour deposition, sol-gel coatings, plasma and laser assisted surface modification etc. Advances in the field of coatings technology in recent years have made it possible to realize the immense potential of surface engineering in diverse industry segments. Although surface engineering is of growing industrial relevance globally, the industry in the developing countries is yet to exploit the state-of-the-art surface modification technologies to their full potential and ongoing R&D efforts in this area are also far short of what this important field demands. The present publication is a follow up of an 8-day International Training Course - cum - Business Opportunities Workshop jointly organised by the NAM S&T Centre and the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) at Hyderabad, India during 19-26 July 2005. It comprises papers presented during this event and includes articles authored by some eminent scientists actively working in this field. The publication establishes a distinct relation of surface engineering advancement with industrial development and resultant economic gains and prosperity of the masses, and the information present herein is expected to catalyze the awareness on this subject in the minds of policy makers, technology managers and industries in the developing countries.