This article discusses surface engineering of nonferrous metals including aluminum and aluminum alloys, copper and copper alloys, magnesium alloys, nickel and nickel alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, zirconium and hafnium, zinc alloys, and refractory metals and alloys. It describes various techniques to improve functional surface properties and enhance the appearance of product forms. The article discusses various cleaning and finishing techniques such as abrasive blast cleaning, polishing and buffing, barrel burnishing, chemical cleaning, pickling, etching and bright dipping, electrochemical cleaning, mechanical cleaning, and mass finishing. It also examines coating processes such as plating, anodizing, chemical conversion coating, and thermal spray, and concludes with a discussion on oxidation-resistant coatings for refractory metals.

Surface treatments are applied to magnesium parts primarily to improve their appearance and corrosion resistance. Mechanical and chemical cleaning methods are used singly or in combination, depending on the specific application and product involved to ensure repetitive reliability. This article focuses on mechanical finishing methods, namely, barrel tumbling, polishing, buffing, vibratory finishing, fiber brushing, and shot blasting. It provides useful information on process control and difficulties with chemical and anodic treatments of magnesium alloys. The use and applications of plating and organic finishing of magnesium alloys are also reviewed. The article concludes with a description of health and safety precautions to be followed during the surface treatment process.

This article provides a brief review of the classification and characteristics of cast irons. It describes the processes used to clean iron castings, including mechanical cleaning and finishing and nonmechanical cleaning. The article discusses surface treatments used to extend casting life when resistance to corrosion, wear, and erosion is required. The common methods include electroplating, electroless plating, hardfacing, weld cladding, surface hardening, porcelain enameling, and organic coatings.

The selection of engineered materials is an integrated process that requires an understanding of the interaction between materials properties, manufacturing characteristics, design considerations, and the total life cycle of the product. This article classifies various engineered materials, including ferrous alloys, nonferrous alloys, ceramics, cermets and cemented carbides, engineering plastics, polymer-matrix composites, metal-matrix composites, ceramic-matrix and carbon-carbon composites, and reviews their general property characteristics and applications. It describes the synergy between the elements of the materials selection process and presents a general comparison of material properties. Finally, the article provides a short note on computer aided materials selection systems, which help in proper archiving of materials selection decisions for future reference.

This article discusses the classifications, compositions, properties, advantages, disadvantages, limitations, and applications of the most commonly used methods for surface engineering of carbon and alloy steels. These include cleaning methods, finishing methods, conversion coatings, hot-dip coating processes, electrogalvanizing, electroplating, metal cladding, organic coatings, zinc-rich coatings, porcelain enameling, thermal spraying, hardfacing, vapor-deposited coatings, surface modification, and surface hardening via heat treatment.

Aluminum or aluminum alloy products have various types of finishes applied to their surfaces to enhance appearance or improve functional properties. This article discusses the procedures, considerations, and applications of various methods employed in the cleaning, finishing, and coating of aluminum. These include abrasive blast cleaning, barrel finishing, polishing, buffing, satin finishing, chemical cleaning, chemical brightening, electrolytic brightening, chemical etching, alkaline etching, acid etching, chemical conversion coating, electroplating, immersion plating, electroless plating, porcelain enameling, and shot peening.

This article describes the basic attributes of the most widely used metal surface cleaning processes to remove pigmented drawing compounds, unpigmented oil and grease, chips, cutting fluids, polishing and buffing compounds, rust and scale from steel parts, and residues and lapping compounds from magnetic particle and fluorescent penetrant inspection. The cleaning processes include emulsion cleaning, electrolytic alkaline cleaning, acid cleaning, solvent cleaning, vapor degreasing, alkaline cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, and glass bead cleaning. The article provides guidelines for choosing an appropriate process for particular applications and discusses eight well-known methods for determining the degree of cleanliness of the work surface.

Metal surfaces must often be cleaned before subsequent operations to remove unwanted substances such as pigmented drawing compounds, unpigmented oil and grease, chips and cutting fluids, polishing and buffing compounds, rust and scale, and miscellaneous contaminants. The article describes common cleaning processes, including alkaline, electrolytic, solvent, emulsion, molten salt bath, ultrasonic and acid cleaning as well as pickling and abrasive blasting. It also explains how to select the appropriate process for a given soil type and surface composition.

This article discusses the concepts of quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA), and clarifies the differences and similarities in the roles and responsibilities of QC and QA personnel. It describes the inspection procedures used to verify proper surface preparation and installation of the protective coating/lining system. Prior to beginning surface-preparation operations, many specifications will require a presurface-preparation inspection to verify the correction of fabrication defects and removal of surface contamination such as grease, oil, cutting compounds, lubricants, and chemical contaminants. When inspecting concrete prior to coating installation, three areas of concern exist: surface roughness, moisture content in concrete, and acidity/alkalinity of the surface. The article provides information on the industry standards for assessing surface cleanliness. It details postcoating application quality requirements, including measuring of dry-film thickness, assessing intercoat cleanliness, verifying minimum and maximum recoat intervals, performing holiday/pinhole detection, conducting cure/hardness testing, and assessing adhesion of the applied coating system.

Aluminum and its alloys are used in a broad range of applications. This article discusses the primary and secondary production of aluminum and the classification system for cast and wrought products. It describes some of the more common manufactured forms, including commercial wrought aluminum products, aluminum alloy engineered castings, powder metallurgy parts, and metal-matrix composites. The article also reviews fabrication characteristics such as machining, forming, forging, and joining. It concludes with a description of the major industrial applications of wrought and cast aluminum alloys.

Structural applications for advanced ceramics include mineral processing equipment, machine tools, wear components, heat exchangers, automotive products, aerospace components, and medical products. This article begins with an overview of the wear-resistant applications and the parameters affecting wear of ceramics, namely, hardness, thermal conductivity, fracture toughness, and corrosion resistance. The next part of the article addresses temperature-resistant applications of advanced ceramics. Specific applications of ceramic materials addressed include cutting tools, pump and valve components, rolling elements and bearings, paper and wire manufacturing, biomedical implants, heat exchangers, adiabatic diesel engines, advanced gas turbines, and aerospace applications.

Engineered components fail predominantly in four major ways: fracture, corrosion, wear, and undesirable deformation (i.e., distortion). Typical fracture mechanisms feature rapid crack growth by ductile or brittle cracking; more progressive (subcritical) forms involve crack growth by fatigue, creep, or environmentally-assisted cracking. Corrosion and wear are another form of progressive material alteration or removal that can lead to failure or obsolescence. This article primarily covers the topic of abrasive wear failures, covering the general classification of wear. It also discusses methods that may apply to any form of wear mechanism, because it is important to identify all mechanisms or combinations of wear mechanisms during failure analysis. The article concludes by presenting several examples of abrasive wear.

A thermosetting resin, or thermoset, is a synthetic organic polymer that cures to a solid, infusible mass by forming a three-dimensional network of covalent chemical bonds. Significant applications include construction and thermoset engineering plastics. This article discusses the general and family characteristics of thermosetting resin families, including allyls, aminos (urea formaldehyde and melamine formaldehyde), cyanates, epoxies, polybenzimidazoles, unsaturated polyesters, thermoset polyimides, phenolics, and vinyl esters. It also explains processing methods, including curing and curing agents. The article provides descriptions of commercial product forms and the wide array of applications of thermosetting resins. It also tabulates the performance properties (mechanical, thermal, electrical and chemical resistance) of some families of unfilled or unreinforced thermosetting resins and reinforced or filled grades.

Advanced thermoplastics are stiff, moldable plastics that compete with traditional engineering thermoplastics and thermosets owing to their good tensile, compressive, impact, and shear strength, electrical properties, and corrosion resistance. This article discusses commercial forms, family characteristics, properties and applications of the following advanced thermoplastics: homopolymer and copolymer acetals, fluoropolymers, ionomers, polyamides, polyamide-imides, polyarylates, polyketones, polyaryl sulfones, polybutylene terephthalates, polycarbonates, polyether-imides, polyether sulfones, polyethylene terephthalates, thermoplastic polyimides, liquid crystal polymers, polyphenylene ether blends, polyphenylene sulfides, and polysulfones.

Rust-preventive compounds are removable coatings used for the protection of the surfaces of iron, steel, coated or galvanized products, and other alloys. This article describes the basic parts of rust-preventive compounds, namely, carrier, film former, polar materials, and specialty additives. It explains types of rust-preventive compounds, including dry films and water-based dry films. The article also discusses the methods of application of various compounds, such as petrolatum compounds and emulsion compounds. It contains tables that provide information on the characteristics, applications, and physical properties of rust-preventive materials covered by military specifications. Finally, the article describes the various considerations and parameters for selecting rust-preventive materials.

Grinding is an extremely complex process that requires the consideration of a number of elements in order to make a reasonably adroit initial selection of a fluid or fluids for a manufacturing plant. In addition, the disposal of grinding wastes must meet the minimum requirements as recommended by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. This article explains the selection considerations of such fluids, as well as the applications and environmental issues related to the grinding processes.

Emulsion cleaning is an industrial cleaning process that uses an organic solvent as the main active agent. This article provides information on the applications, concerns and limitations, and process parameters of emulsion cleaning. It describes the processing variables and equipment for three main stages of emulsion cleaning: immersion cleaning, secondary cleaning, and spray cleaning. In addition, the classifications, composition, and selection criteria are also discussed.

Ultrasonic cleaning involves the use of high-frequency sound waves that is above the upper range of human heating, or about 18 kHz, to remove a variety of contaminants from parts immersed in aqueous media. This article describes the process, design considerations and the equipment in ultrasonic cleaning. The components used in the generation of ultrasonic wave include piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers that are used in ultrasonic generators and tanks. The effects of solution type and its temperature on the effectiveness of ultrasonic cleaning are also discussed.

Malleable iron is a type of cast iron that has most of its carbon in the form of irregularly shaped graphite nodules. This article tabulates the typical composition of malleable iron and specifications, and applications of malleable iron castings. It discusses the metallurgical control of malleable irons with emphasis on its composition and heat treatment. The article provides information on the specifications and mechanical properties of different types of malleable irons, such as ferritic, pearlitic, and martensitic malleable irons.

This article focuses on the types, composition, and applications of phosphate coatings and describes the characteristics of phosphate-coated ferrous and nonferrous materials, including steel and aluminum. It addresses five successive process fundamentals: cleaning, rinsing, phosphating, rinsing after phosphating, and chromic acid rinsing. The article describes the techniques for controlling the chemical composition of various phosphating solutions. It discusses the equipment and factors that influence equipment requirements in immersion and spray systems. The article also describes the controlling procedures of coating weight and crystal size. It provides guidelines for choosing phosphate coatings based on application, coating weight requirements, and recommended process parameters. The article concludes with a discussion on safety precautions and the treatment of effluents from phosphating plants.