Review Article

Numerical Modelling of Multilayered Coatings – Latest Developments and Applications

¹ School of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China
² Department of Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, Scotland, UK
³ School of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M15 6BH, UK

^* e-mail: deqiang.yin@scu.edu.cn

Received: 8 May 2014
Accepted: 12 July 2014

Abstract

The remarkable mechanical properties of multilayered coatings, such as super-hardness, excellent resistance against cracking, low wear-rate and high thermal-stability, are due to their unique interfacial structures and deformation mechanisms at the nanometer scale. The multilayered coating process itself is a typical multi-scale phenomenon. The modelling of multilayered coatings has become an important topic in research recently, largely due to the recent progress that has been made in the numerical modelling of materials and structures at different length-scales as well as the improved effectiveness achieved in linking such progress in numerical modelling to enable multi-scale modelling. In this paper, numerical modelling for the analysis of multilayered coatings at individual length-scales: Continuum, Molecular and Nano-scale, is reviewed, along with that at multi-scale modelling. Examples are presented showing numerical models obtained using: the Finite Element Method (FEM), Molecular Dynamics (MD), First-principles calculations and Multi-scale modelling, are presented. Their relative limitations are discussed and challenges to their future work highlighted.