Many industrial products and components are made in a fairly generic way, intended for general use but in terms of application, a product can be used in any number of different environments and face different stresses and challenges. Take piping, for example. All pipes will be made not to leak but they may not be made to face chemical erosion, degradation, or extreme heat, for example. This is where surface treatments come in. They can be applied post-production to a prepared surface to enable it to be used under specific conditions over and above its original intended use. This gives products and components far greater flexibility and greatly aids in project and production management.
The coatings.
Surface treatments come in a wide variety of finishes, ranging from a simple paint finish to the complex process of anodising. A detailed summary of surface treatments can be found here www.poeton.co.uk/standard-treatments/.
Every different surface will need preparation before a surface treatment can be applied. In some cases, they will need chemical cleaning before coating, and others may need the surface roughened to give the coating something to key to. This can be achieved by methods such as sandblasting. The coatings applied can be purely decorative for consumer-facing parts or applied for a technical reason, such as creating a non-stick surface or making the surface a thermal or electric barrier.
Products as diverse as dental implants, diesel engines, and solar panels make use of surface treatments. A wide range of complex industrial problems are solved in this way:.
Applications.
In addition to providing protection against such things as ageing, rusting, corrosion, water penetration, and extreme temperatures, a surface coating can be applied to repair and add longevity to an existing component. Many refurbishment and restoration projects will use surface treatments to restore and upgrade old parts that may no longer be available. Heat treatments are another important surface treatment of mainly metal products. By heating up a surface and cooling it down at a certain rate, it can be hardened or softened, depending on the process used.
