Screen cylinder with axially variable wear resistant coating thickness

A screen cylinder comprising:

• a screening media having an inflow side and an outflow side, the screening media being cylindrical and formed of a plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending slots formed between axially extending bars, the axially extending bars of the screening media having an inflow surface facing the inflow side wherein the inflow surface extends lengthwise in an axial direction and widthwise in a circumferential direction relative to the screening media;
• the screening media having an inflow end and an outflow end axially opposite the inflow end, the axially extending bars extending from the inflow end to the outflow end;
• wherein the axially extending bars comprise a spray-on wear resistant coating on the inflow surface of the screening media, the wear resistant coating forming a substantially uniform coated area between an area on the inflow surface of a bar proximate a first slot to an area on the inflow surface of a bar proximate a second slot, and wherein (i) the substantially uniform coated area at multiple axial locations is of a substantially uniform thickness along the inflow surface in a direction normal to the axial direction while (ii) the substantially uniform coated area increases in thickness at multiple axial locations along the axial direction, such that the wear resistant coating is thicker on said bars towards the outflow end of the screening media compared to the wear resistant coating located on said bars towards the inflow end of the screening media.