4. Conclusions

Depending on the industrial sector concerned, customers or users have very different requirements when it comes to coatings and surface treatments. In the civilian sector, particularly for the general public, the economic factor is of prime importance. In other fields (military, aeronautics, nuclear, etc.), operational performance, i.e. process reliability, is paramount. However, technical and regulatory requirements are becoming increasingly stringent (rising temperatures, more aggressive environments, vibrations, high stress levels, high pressures, environmental recommendations or standards, etc.) and, despite the considerable number of processes available on the industrial market, the sometimes contradictory technical and economic data often leads to a limited choice of solutions, or even an unsatisfactory compromise in most cases.

Faced with this often difficult...