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Hard,
High Lubricity Coatings
Inframat has
custom fabricated hard, high lubricity coatings for metals and alloy
substrates. In limited lubrication situations, these coatings demonstrate
coefficients of friction in the range 0.06 to 0.08 and Vickers hardness
of above 400. Coatings are electroplated on metal substrates with
hardness and lubricity components incorporated within the electroplate
by a proprietary process. Presently, Inframat is successfully testing
replacements for black oxide on gears and is working towards coating
bearings, cam shafts, valve stems and piston rings.
Normally,
the electroplating process is based on a solution of salts that
constitutes positive and negative ions. Under an electrical field,
the ions will move to the workpiece (or electrode) to form a 100%
dense deposited coating. Currently available electroplated coatings
included hard chrome. Due to the emiision of carcinogenic hexvalant
chromium ions to the air, the US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is aggressive seeking alternative coating to replace this
traditional hard chrome method. Recently, Inframat® is developing
a proprietary method for electroplating deposition of nanostructured
WC/Co-Ni tribocoatings using WC/Co nanoparticle dispersion in an
electroplating bath. The innovation of the technology is based on
the concept of using nanoparticles to form a high performance coating
for Non-line-of-Sight ("NLOS") applications. This innovation
includes (1) the ability of dispersing WC/Co nanoparticles in a
nickel sulfamate bath to achieve a near colloidal dispersion, and
(2) the ability of incorporating sufficient amounts of nanoparticulate
WC fine dispersions in the coating. The electroplating hardfacing
nanocoatings demonstrates substantial performance and cost improvement
to replace the current environmentally hazardous chrome electroplating
for non-line-of-sight applications and other complex geometries,
where the WC nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed in a cobalt-nickel
matrix, resulting in a "near net coating" with high hardness,
a low coefficient of friction, low wear rate, and smooth as-coated
surface.
Electroplating Tungsten Carbide/Cobalt-Nickell
Transmission Gear coatings
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