Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/K80297/01
Title:	NOVEL HYBRID PLASMA-BASED SURFACE ENGIEERING PROCESSES
Principal Investigator:	Matthews, Professor A
Other Investigators:	Leyland, Dr A
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Engineering
Organisation:	University of Hull
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 July 1996	Ends:	31 December 1999	Value (£):	222,721
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Processing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The research is aimed towards overcoming the limitations of the currently available plasma-based techniques. Firstly it is intended to deposit a range of metal / metal nitride, carbide, boride, oxide coatings, in the thickness range 5-25mm, and by both reactive (i.e. metal deposition in a nitrogen / carbon / oxygen-bearing gas-mixture plasma) and non-reactive techniques (i.e. direct deposition of metal nitride / carbide / boride / oxide materials in an inert plasma). Three candidate low cost substrate materials (mild steel, AISI 304 stainless steel and AISI 4140 low alloy steel) will initially be employed with pre-treatments and / or pre-coat diffusion processes developed for each substrate. Next, the developed treatments will be modified for application to three candidate weight-saving materials (titanium, aluminium, PEEK). Coatings and post-coat diffusion / implantation treatments based on compounds of transition metals (e.g. Cr, Ti) and Al , and nitriding / carburising respectively, will be tailored to achieve high levels of wear resistance, whilst optimising electrochemical properties in each substrate case. Mechanical properties will be examined by micro-hardness, pin-on-disc and rubber abrasive wheel, whilst electrical properties will be examined by neutral salt spray, potentiodynamic testing and electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Structure and composition will be studied by GDOS, EDX, WDX and glancing-angle XRD.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website:	http://www.hull.ac.uk