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This chapter aims to summarize the topics related to the application of a surface treatment by high energy fluxes (i.e., electron and laser beams) for developing of new multifunctional materials, as well as to modify their surface properties. These technologies have a large number of applications in the field of automotive and aircraft industries for manufacturing of railways, space crafts, different tools, and components. Based on the performed literature review, some examples of the use of laser and electron beams for surface manufacturing (i.e., surface alloying, cladding, and hardening) are presented. The present overview describes the relationship between electron beam and laser beam technologies, microstructure, and the obtained functional properties of the materials. The benefits of the considered techniques are extensively discussed.

During the last decades, electron-beam treatment technologies (EBTT) have been widely used for surface modification of metals and alloys. The EBT methods are known as accurate and efficient. They have many advantages in comparison with the conventional techniques, such as very short technological process time, uniform distribution of the energy of the electron beam, which allows a precise control of the beam parameters and formed structure and properties of the materials, etc. Moreover, electron-beam treatment technologies are a part of the additive techniques, which are known as modern methods for manufacturing of new materials with unique functional properties. Currently, modern trends in the surface treatment of metals and alloys are based on the combination of electron-beam technologies with other methods, such as thin film deposition, plasma nitriding, etc. This approach results in a significant improvement in the surface properties of the materials which opens new potential applications and can involve them into new industrial fields. This paper aims to summarize the topics related to the manufacturing and surface treatment of metals and alloys by means of electron-beam technologies. Based on a literature review, the development and growth of EBT are considered in details. The benefits of these technologies—as well as their combination with other methods—are extensively discussed.