There are now a variety of methods of material deposition similar to that. You can apply ceramics, carbide matrices, as well as virtually any metal alloy you can think of. I worked in a shop where we did that type of buildup in the 70's. It was plain old metalizing back then. Metco gun, 100 PSI air, lots of oxy/acetylene and a roll of wire. It's kind of fun to shoot the guy across the shop with a blast of it. It's sort of like a cutting torch with a wire feed. After prepping the surface by roughing it up, we shot a little pure nickel as a binder, then the steel on top of that. It turns back a lot like cast material.
I've done many motor shafts, harmonic balancer seal surfaces, electric motor end bells, and even hydraulic rams. It's a versatile process. Things have changed from those days to use plasma spray and all sorts of wear materials. Very cool technology.
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