Widening the market for advanced PVD coatings

A recent report (Ref. 1) showed that, in spite of previous predictions to the contrary, the market penetration of PVD coatings relative to other coating methods is extremely small. The reasons for this lie in a number of factors of which cost is the main one, which is also related to the perceived unsuitability of these coatings for cheap substrate materials such as mild steel. The paper discusses the challenges facing PVD technology in overcoming the market barriers and highlights potential process solutions which exist to achieve the wider use of PVD coatings in industry, including plasma diffusion treatments and duplex coating combinations, e.g. of electroless nickel and PVD.