Chameleon coating

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A chameleon coating is a wear control coating engineered to perform well in all environments. Chameleon coatings are often multilayer coatings but can also be composite coatings using a mixture of phases to provide good performance in various conditions.

[edit] Applications

Chameleon coatings are often used on hypersonic and reusable launch vehicles that require lubrication in ambient atmosphere, vacuum (space), and during re-entry (high temperature). A typical multilayer coating may use a molybdenum disulfide or DLC for low friction at ambient conditions. A layer of teflon may be used for vacuum service along with a silver or gold containing layer for high temperature lubricity.