Surface Engineering Laboratory (TribLab) has a continuous research experience in the scientific field of metallic materials and their in-service performance in various environments

i. Identification of micro-phenomena taking place in engineering tribo-systems

• Surface topography influence on the evaluation of friction coefficient during sliding.

• Wear micro-mechanisms in stratified structures.

• Determination of composite coatings performance under surface loading.

ii. Surface modification techniques for enhancement of metallic materials

• Surface cladding via conventional arc welding techniques.

• Elaboration of hardfacing layers on metallic surfaces via concentrated solar irradiation.

• Diffusion surface treatments of tool steels for enhancing their tribological performance (nitrocarburising) and their resistance to molten metals attack (boronising).

• Thermal Spraying techniques for depositing high-thickness ceramic coatings.

• Remelting via high power CO2 laser, micromachining via pulsed excimer laser and surface cleaning via pulsed Nd:YAG laser of metallic surfaces.

• Physical and Chemical Vapour Deposition (PVD and CVD) of thin films.

iii. Mechanical characterisation of engineering materials

• Conventional testing techniques (tensile/Charpy/creep/fatigue testing, hardness/ microhardness measurements).

• Non-conventional laser-based techniques for estimating adhesion strength of protective ceramic materials onto metallic substrates.

iv. Failure Analysis of materials and engineering components during operation

• Experimental analysis of failed components, identification of dominant failure mechanisms and root cause analysis, components’ quality enhancement.

• Correlation of microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties to materials’ performance under various environmental conditions.

v. Funded projects initiated and implemented by TribLab during the last decade