Producing solid ceramic components is not always the best approach to solving a wear or corrosion problems. In many cases, taking the original metallic part and applying a coating can be the best solution.
Coating Thicknesses

Coatings can vary from a few to several hundred microns and be deposited by different means.

The coating, its thickness and means of deposition will depend on the final use of the components and the environment it has to resist.
Coating Techniques

There are a wide variety of surface coatings available. Brief details of the most commonly used coatings are given below. If you have a specific coating requirement please contact Dynamic-Ceramic for expert assistance.
Extending Component Life

It is a fact of life that many components are deemed to be worn out when their surfaces have degraded beyond a predetermined limit. This limit may vary from the appearance of minor pitting or scoring marks in bearing surfaces to the removal of several millimetres of material from the bucket of an excavating tool.

However, the useful life of many components, which are unsuitable to be made from advanced ceramics, may be extended by coating with a material tailored to resist the particular environment in which the component is working. These include thermal barrier coatings as used in gas turbines and on piston crowns in large diesel engines; low friction and anti-seizure coatings as used in lubricant free bearings; wear resistant or "hard-facing" coatings as used for the treatment of valves in internal combustion engines and finally corrosion resistant coatings as used in the chemicals industry.
Coating Techniques and Deposition Thickness

Coatings may be applied by many different techniques with coating thickness' varying from several microns to several millimetres. Thin coatings are usually applied by Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD), Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) and Chemically Formed Processes (CFP) with other techniques e.g. High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF), plasma and flame spraying together with Plasma Transferred Arc (PTA), weld over-laying and laser cladding, being used to deposit thicker coatings.
Rejuvenating Worn Components

Some of these techniques are also capable of building-up worn components to their original tolerances, thus reducing both waste and replacement costs