Coatings are important surface engineering materials, serving to protect engineering parts against wear, corrosion and oxidation, or to bring some special properties such as high hardness and or low friction. Such materials are fabricated by various industrial processes such as PVD (physical vapour deposition), CVD (chemical vapour deposition), thermal spray, cladding and surface welding, painting, and thermal-chemical treatments like nitriding and carburising of steels. Since early 1990s, Sheffield Hallam University has made significant research and development both in advanced PVD technologies and in high performance PVD coatings, including projects sponsored by European Union and UK government. Several important coatings are used widely in industry, such as TiN, TiAlN, CrN, TiAlCrYN, CrN/NbN, TiAlN/VN, TiAlCN/VCN and C/Cr. Meanwhile, we have developed a package of analytical methods to characterize the chemical compositions and microstructure of various coatings and testing techniques to evaluate the mechanical, thermal, chemical and tribological properties. These techniques are available to industry as part of applied research or our consultancy projects.

Below is a list of MERI's capabilities available to serve industrial manufacturers and users of coatings. (Click in for further details)

• Coatings analysis for hardness thickness and adhesion
• Residual stress measurement
• Wear and friction properties
• Machining properties of coated cutting tools
• Thermal stability and oxidation resistance
• Corrosion properties
• Chemical compositions and Microstructure of coatings and the coating/substrate interfaces

For more information on coating analysis relating to research and consultancy, please contact Dr. Quanshun Luo