Author(s): Emily J Carter and Hiroshi Tanaka

Abstract: Materials processing technologies underpin the performance, reliability, and sustainability of modern engineering systems. In recent years, additive manufacturing and surface engineering have emerged as transformative approaches that complement or replace conventional subtractive routes. Additive manufacturing enables layer wise fabrication of complex geometries, functional gradients, and customized components with reduced material waste, shortened supply chains, and accelerated design iteration. Concurrently, surface engineering techniques such as thermal spraying, laser surface modification, physical and chemical vapor deposition, and advanced coating architectures tailor surface chemistry, topology, and residual stress to enhance wear resistance, corrosion protection, fatigue life, and functional response. Despite rapid adoption, challenges persist regarding process reliability, microstructural control, anisotropy, scalability, and long-term performance under service conditions. Integrating additive manufacturing with surface engineering offers a pathway to overcome these limitations by decoupling bulk and surface functions while enabling site specific property optimization. Digital process control, in situ monitoring, data driven parameter optimization, and hybrid manufacturing platforms are accelerating this convergence. This article synthesizes current trends in materials processing with emphasis on the scientific principles, process innovations, and application driven requirements governing additive manufacturing and surface engineering. Recent advances in powder and wire feedstocks, energy sources, post processing strategies, and surface functionalization are critically examined. The review also discusses emerging industrial applications spanning aerospace, biomedical implants, energy systems, and tooling, highlighting performance gains and remaining bottlenecks. By consolidating contemporary knowledge, the article provides a structured perspective on how integrated processing strategies can deliver components with superior functionality, reliability, and sustainability, while outlining research directions necessary to translate laboratory scale innovations into robust industrial solutions. Such insights support informed material selection, process integration, qualification standards, and lifecycle assessment essential for next generation manufacturing ecosystems across globally competitive industries pursuing digitalization, resilience, cost efficiency, and environmentally responsible production under evolving regulatory and market constraints worldwide.

DOI: 10.22271/27078221.2026.v7.i1a.101

Pages: 29-33 | Views: 22 | Downloads: 6

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