Surface Engineering and Protective Coating Towards Advanced Manufacturing and Remanufacturing Applications

Global climate changes and worldwide sustainability are pushing the requirement for advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing in various areas, including aerospace, sea- and land-transport, infrastructure, low-carbon energy, etc. Surface engineering and protective coating (SEPC) are a typical area that deals with the surface finishing and enhancement of metallic components. SEPC has long been developed in traditional manufacturing but attracted increasing interest in recent years along with the rapid advancing in additive manufacturing and remanufacturing. For example, surface enhancement process, when introduced into interpass additive manufacturing, can significantly enhance the whole components with reduced necessity for post-manufacturing treatment. Here, we present and discuss a few surface engineering techniques as well as their potential applications in protective coatings produced by direct energy depositions.