The process of making assemblies of solid-solution and precipitation hardening groups of alloys and superalloys often requires welding of dissimilar metals, welding of diffusion-bonded materials, and sometimes weld overlay cladding and even thermal spraying that in turn requires special knowledge and treatments developed specifically for each material. This article emphasizes the special metallurgical welding considerations for welding solid-solution and precipitation hardening nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, and superalloys.

Rolling is the process of reducing the thickness or changing the cross section of a workpiece by compressive forces applied through a set of rolls. This article emphasizes flat rolling and illustrates basic flat-rolling process used to reduce the thickness of a rectangular cross section. It provides a discussion on hot rolling, cold rolling, and warm rolling, as well as lubrication in rolling. The article reviews the lubrication for iron-base and nickel-base materials, light metals, copper-base alloys, and titanium alloys. It discusses the wear mechanism in rolling: abrasion, adhesion, and fatigue, as well as oxidative and corrosive wear. Surface modification techniques, such as hardening by induction heat treating, weld overlay, thermal spray coating, coating via physical vapor deposition (PVD), and laser surface treatment, are also discussed for improving roll service life.

There are various coating techniques in practice to prevent the deterioration of steels. This article focuses on dip, barrier, and chemical conversion coatings and describes hot-dip processes for coating carbon steels with zinc, aluminum, lead-tin, and other alloys. It describes continuous electrodeposition for steel strip and babbitting and discusses phosphate and chromate conversion coatings as well. It also addresses painting, discussing types and selection, surface preparation, and application methods. In addition, the article describes rust-preventive compounds and their application. It also provides information on weld-overlay and thermal spray coating, porcelain enameling, and the preparation of enamel frits for steels. The article closes by describing methods and materials for ceramic coating.

Hardfacing is defined as the application of a wear-resistant material, in depth, to the vulnerable surfaces of a component by a weld overlay or thermal spray process Hardfacing materials include a wide variety of alloys, carbides, and combinations of these materials. Iron-base hardfacing alloys can be divided into pearlitic steels, austenitic (manganese) steels, martensitic steels, high-alloy irons, and austenitic stainless steel. The types of nonferrous hardfacing alloys include cobalt-base/carbide-type alloys, laves phase alloys, nickel-base/boride-type alloys, and bronze type alloys. Hardfacing applications for wear control vary widely, ranging from very severe abrasive wear service, such as rock crushing and pulverizing to applications to minimize metal-to-metal wear. This article discusses the types of hardfacing alloys, namely iron-base alloys, nonferrous alloys, and tungsten carbides, and their applications and advantages.

Surface treatments are used in a variety of ways to improve the material properties of a component. This article provides information on surface treatments that improve service performance so that the design engineer may consider surface-engineered components as an alternative to more costly materials. It describes solidification surface treatments such as hot dip coatings, weld overlays, and thermal spray coatings. The article discusses deposition surface treatments such as electrochemical plating, chemical vapor deposition, and physical vapor deposition processes. It explains surface hardening and diffusion coatings such as carburizing, nitriding, and carbonitriding. The article also tabulates typical characteristics of carburizing, nitriding, and carbonitriding diffusion treatments.

This article describes the corrosion modes in a waste-to-energy boiler. It discusses the corrosion protection and alloy performance with an emphasis on two main areas of the boiler: furnace water walls and super heaters.