CVD. See chemical vapour deposition.

CVI. See chemical vapour infiltration.

cyaniding
'Carbonitriding using a cyanide-based salt bath'
- IFHT DEFINITION.
See carbonitriding.

D
DC diode PAPVD. A plasma assisted PVD process in which the object to be coated is
made one of the cathodes of a DC glow discharge, the chamber walls acting as the earthed
anode.
DC triode PAPVD. See triode ion plating and triode sputter deposition.
deboriding treatment. A thermochemical method for the removal of boron from a prior
borided steel surface. The process is conducted in an atmosphere containing H2 and CH4 at
temperatures of 900-10200C. Boron is usually removed in the form OfB2O3.
decarburisation. Loss of carbon from a steel surface to a level well below that of the core,
often as the result of prolonged high temperature exposure in an oxidising atmosphere.
decarburisation depth.
'Distance from the surface of a decarburised object to a specified
limit which depends on the character of the decarburisation. The
limit can be set in terms of a specified structure, hardness, or carbon
content' - IFHT DEFINITION.
decorative chromium plating. See chromium plating
decorative coating. Any coating primarily produced to enhance the appearance of an object. For example see gilding.
degreasing. Any methods that achieve the removal of organic compounds, such as grease
or oil, from the surface of an object, e.g., see vapour degreasing.

denitriding.
Thermochemical treatment for the removal of excess nitrogen from
the surface of a nitrided object' - IFHT DEFINITION.

deposit. A synonym for coating (noun), but also referring to any adherent surface solid
formed, for example, as a result of wear or corrosion.
deposition. The act of laying down a metallic or non-metallic layer onto a substrate. There
are numerous deposition techniques; these include electroplating, plasma spraying, PVD
and CVD.
deposition rate. Used in connection with coating technologies, like plasma spraying, plasma
assisted PVD or CVD. Expressed in mm/min, jiim/min or |nm/hr.
derusting. See descaling.
descaling. Any process used for the purpose of removing the scale from heavily oxidised
metal. This can be achieved by mechanical (abrasive blasting, tumbling, brushing) or chemical
means (alkaline descaling, acid descaling (pickling) or salt bath descaling).
designer surface. An engineered surface with optimal constitution, treatment depth and
properties, designed with intent for specific application(s).
detonation gun (D-gun) spraying. A combustion spraying technique whereby particles of
coating material, typically WC-Co, are passed through a combustion tube, fuelled by a
mixture of oxygen and acetylene gases. Ignition is provided by a spark plug 4.3 or 8.6 times
per second. The composition of the combusting gas can be adjusted to be oxidising, neutral
or reducing. The flame temperature is -3000 K and coating powder particles can attain
velocities ~ 800 m/s. It is an extremely noisy torch (150 dB) requiring intensive screening
and operator protection. Union Carbide Corporation is the principal owner and operator of
this technology. Also see high velocity air fuel (HVAF) spraying and high velocity oxygen
fuel (HVOF) spraying.
D-gun spraying. See detonation gun (D-gun) spraying.
diamond coatings. Diamond coatings can be deposited by many methods. Presently, the
most favoured technique is microwave plasma CVD. Diamond coatings are crystalline and
are usually characterised by a combination of methods which include, Raman spectroscopy,
X-ray diffraction and surface morphology. Also see hotfilament CVD and microwave plasma
CVD.
diamond-like coatings (DLC). Very hard (-3000-4000 kg/mm2) carbon coatings with
little or no crystallinity (amorphous). Initially such coatings proved unsatisfactory for tribological
protection because of poor substrate adhesion and unfavourable residual stress. Some recent progress

has been made whereby appropriate sub-layers of transition metal carbides and nitrides are deposited
prior to deposition of a DLC. This is particularly important when depositing DLC onto metallic
substrates. D L C s can be deposited by sputter deposition or plasma assisted CVD.
diffuse cycle. The second part of the boost-diffuse method. See vacuum carburising and plasma
carburising.
diffusion coating. Any process that produces a surface enriched in another element through solid
state diffusion and (usually) resulting in the formation of intermetallic or interstitial compounds.
Processes include aluminising, bonding, chromising, sherardising, siliconising and vanadising. By
convention, it specifically excludes carburising, carbonitriding, nitriding, and nitrocarburising.
diffusion metallising.

'Thermochemical treatment involving the enrichment of the surface layer of

an object with one or more metallic element' - IFHT DEFINITION.
Diffusion coating with metals alone. Processes include aluminising, chromising, sherardising and
vanadising but should exclude the technology of siliconising, since silicon is a non-metal. However,
some authors still regard siliconising as a diffusion metallising process.
diffusion period. That time of a thermochemical treatment when the active specie(s) diffuse into the
substrate. To provide distinction from, for example, the heating and cooling cycles.
diffusion profile. The concentration of elements in the diffusion zone following a thermochemical
diffusion treatment. Also see concentration profile.
diffusion wear. A term first invoked by Trent and Loladze in the 1950s, to account for the rake face
cratering of cemented carbide cutting tools, observed after cutting plain carbon and low alloy steels at
relatively high speed (>100m/min). Other workers have termed this effect 'dissolution/diffusion wear'
or 'solution wear'. For cemented carbide tools, comprising WC-Co or WC-(W5TIJaJ^Jb)C-Co (termed
'straight grade' and 'steel cutting grade' carbides respectively), the WC grains become smoothly
worn. In the case of 'steel cutting grade' cemented carbides, microsections, made normal to the rake
face surface, reveal that the WC phase is preferentially worn; the (W,Ti,Ta,Nb)C phase being less
severely worn, stands proud of the adjacent WC grains. The preferential wear of the WC phase is
attributed to its higher solid solubility limit in y-Fe (present in the hot steel chip shear zone during
cutting) compared to that of the (W,Ti,TaJSfb)C phase.
Other tool materials, like high speed steel and ceramics can be worn by this type of mechanism, e.g.,
when sialon tools are used to cut low alloy and plain carbon steels at cutting speeds above 200 m/min;
similarly Al2O3-ZrO2 ceramics exhibit a similar effect when used to cut titanium alloys at cutting
speeds above 50 m/min. TiN and TiC coatings, deposited by PVD or CVD, are also worn in this way
when used to cut steels above 100 m/min although other mechanisms like discrete plastic deformation make a significant contribution. For further details see Metal Cutting by E.M. Trent,
Butterworths, 3rd Edition, 1991.

diffusion zone.

'That part of the case where elements introduced by

thermochemical treatment are held in solid solution or partially
precipitated in the matrix. The concentration of these elements
decreases continuously towards the core' - IFHT DEFINITION
A term used especially in connection with nitrided steels. In this example it refers to the
zone of coherent nitride precipitation, residing beneath the compound layer, which
constitutes 95 to 99% of the depth of the nitrided 'case', see nitriding. The nitrogen content
of the diffusion zone ranges from nearly 20at-% adjacent the compound layer to below
lat-% adjacent the core structure.
dimensionless wear coefficient. See Archard's wear equation.
diode sputter deposition. A sputter deposition process in which the substrate serves as a
positive or positive-ground electrode, relative to the cathodic sputter sources; a less commonly used configuration. Also see bias sputter deposition.
dip coating. Any technique whereby a coating is formed by immersing a solid in a liquid
which subsequently bonds to the solid surface. The most common types include hot dip
aluminising or hot dip galvanising. The term also refers to coating by immersion in ceramic slip or even polymeric solutions (organic paints).
dip coating with ceramics.See ceramic dip coating.
dip coating with plastics. See plastic dip coating.
dip painting. See plastic dip coating.
direct current plasma CVD. Plasma assisted CVD in which the plasma is generated by a
direct current (DC) power supply.Often more problematic than radio frequency (RF) plasma
CVD.
discrete plastic deformation. A common wear mechanism of PVD and CVD ceramic
coatings (TiC, TiN and Al2O3) when used to cut steel at speeds above 100 m/min. The
mechanism increases with increasing cutting speed (temperature) and is the principal rake
face wear mechanism OfAl2O3 coated cemented carbide tools. The mechanism culminates
in the removal of wear fragments through ductle fracture (see diagram, sequence 1 to 4 and
micrograph). It should be appreciated that coating temperatures often exceed 11000C when
cutting steel; at these temperatures TiC, TiN and Al2O3 behave plastically. Also see P. A.
Dearnley, R. F. Fowle, N. M. Corbett and D. Doyle, Surface Engineering, 1993, 9, 312318.

DISCRETE
PLASTIC
DEFORMATION

CERAMIC
COATING
ASPERITIES

i
CHIP FLOW
DIRECTION

2
P. A. Deamley, 1994

3
WEAR PARTICLE

CFD

discrete plastic deformation. A CVD-TiC coating undergoing rake face wear through discrete plastic
deformation caused by the high temperatures and shear stresses developed while cutting an AISI
1046 normalised steel at 300 m/min 0.25 mm/rev. CFD = chip flow direction. Field emission SEM.

displacement CVD reaction. Also known as an exchange reaction. A CVD reaction between a volatile compound (MX2) and a substrate (Z):

This reaction is usually self-limiting i.e., it stops after a solid layer, M(s), has been deposited
which serves as a diffusion barrier to further reaction. For example see gaseous chromising.
DLC. See diamond-like coatings
double-stage nitriding. See comments on Floe Process under gaseous nitriding.
drip-feed carburising. See gaseous carburising.
dry blast cleaning. A general term encompassing shot blasting, grit blasting and sand blasting.
dry galvanising. Hot dip galvanising in which the object, after degreasing and pickling, is
immersed in an aqueous flux solution, then dried and immersed in a molten zinc bath. A
rather inappropriate term.
drying. The process of removing residues from washing operations by means of hot or cold
air, freon, infra-red radiation or centrifugal action.
dull finish. A surface of poor specular reflectivity. Matt surface is also an acceptable term.
duplex nickel plating. A nickel electroplating process involving the deposition of two layers of nickel: (i) semibright and; (ii) bright. These serve as an undercoat for subsequent
chrome plating.
duplex surface engineering. A combination of two sequential (and mutually compatible, from the treatment temperature perspective) surface engineering methods to
achieve a synergistic surface property design. At the time of writing, much interest is
being shown in extending the application range of thin (~5jLim) ceramic coatings (like
TiN and TiC) to low yield strength (~500-1000M.Pa) substrates by prior strengthening
via a thermochemical diffusion treatment. Feasible duplex treatments include: (i) CVD
after carburising, followed by quenching (to permit the y-Fe > a'-Fe transfomation);
(ii) PVD after nitriding. Note: carburising temperatures ~ CVD temperatures; PVD
temperatures ~ nitriding temperatures. Initial trials have been carried out in two distinct operations. More recent efforts have focused on enabling each process to be carried out sequentially in the same vessel.
durability. The ability of a surface engineered material to endure in-service wear, corrosion or fatigue.