Environmental degradation of the surface phase over time can be caused by wear, corrosion, fatigue and creep.
Surface engineering techniques are being used in the automotive, aerospace, missile, power, electronic, biomedical,[3] textile, petroleum, petrochemical, chemical, steel, power, cement, machine tools, construction industries.
Surface engineering techniques can be used to develop a wide range of functional properties, including physical, chemical, electrical, electronic, magnetic, mechanical, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant properties at the required substrate surfaces.
Coatings, to make surface life robust from wear and corrosion, was approximately half the market.
In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in surface engineering from age-old electroplating to processes such as vapor phase deposition,[8][9] diffusion, thermal spray & welding using advanced heat sources like plasma,[2][3] laser,[10] ion, electron, microwave, solar beams, synchrotron radiation,[3] pulsed arc, pulsed combustion, spark, friction and induction.