30-40% savings in resource consumption are immediately possible, just by using the existing knowledge.
From the beginning, surface technology served sustainability. With the increasing use of metallic materials, the main focus was on surface protection against corrosion and wear. The increase in service life leads directly to the conservation of resources in material consumption. More than 80 % of operational damage can still be traced back to surface damage. Here, surface technology processes offer the possibility of increasing the performance of the materials and preventing damage. The efficiency of machines and processes is increased by friction-reducing or heat-insulating coatings. The resulting increase in efficiency reduces energy consumption and thus environmentally harmful emissions. Coating processes are used in component repair and thus make an important contribution to the circular economy. Already during product development, it is important to avoid critical raw materials through substitution. In the future, process data will be recorded locally and processed digitally with smart coating systems and smart surfaces. The goal is to control processes and design them more efficiently. The driving forces behind the industrial introduction of coatings have always been:
Resource conservation | Environmental protection | Safety
This applies to aircraft engines, wind turbines, H2 electrolysers as well as high-performance tools.
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