Product category:
Lubrication - lubricants and lubrication systems
News Release from: Kluber Lubrication GB | Subject: Dry lubricants
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 18 November 2003
Time to consider running bearings 'dry'?
Progress towards dry lubrication is borne out of the need for performance, quality, user-friendliness, cost reduction and eco-compatibility, says a supplier.
There is no doubt that lubricating oils and greases ("wet" lubricants) are ideal for reducing friction and wear in many cases However, their typical properties also set their limits
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 22 Apr 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Like many other materials they only function in a certain temperature range, they may be washed away by water or may contaminate the area around the friction point.
Progress towards dry lubrication is borne out of the need for performance, quality, user-friendliness, cost reduction and eco-compatibility.
Life-cost and integrity of components is under ever closer scrutiny, particularly and literally in safety components such as car seatbelt mechanisms, leading to demands that the lubricant functions just as efficiently in 10 years or more as it did on the very first day.
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Dry lubricants offer advantages wherever * Traditional lubricants cause contamination.
* Penetration of traditional lubricants may cause malfunction.
* Mass produced components are auto-processed and oils and greases would impede that process.
* Service temperature limits of oils and greases are exceeded.
* Water, aggressive media, dust have an impact on the friction point.
* Uniform tribological conditions are required in a wide temperature range.
* The entire component requires protection against corrosion.
Kluber Lubrication have for many years developed and introduced special dry lubricant formulations to allow designers to integrate life-time lubrication into systems and so remove the need to provide for re-lubrication.
Using BCE and BCA technology Kluber Lubrication give designers utilising mechanical and / or elastomer components scope to build-in life-time lubrication solutions using dry lubricants in the form of air-drying, thermo-setting, water-based, solvent-based or hot-dip lubricants.
The principle is well known from cooking : an egg won't stick to a non-stick frying pan even without using fat or oil due to a bonded coating on the pan.
In dry lubrication a thin layer is applied to the component and the principle is therefore similar.
Typically these materials consist of solid lubricants, a binder, additives and a carrier (acting as a distributor during application).
The active film thickness is between 5 and 15 microns depending on the applied product.
Dry lubricants can be applied in various ways such as immersion, spraying, dip - spin or electro-static coating.
Wear protection is not achieved by hardness (as with hard material coatings for example) but by optimising friction coefficients and sliding characteristics which in comparison renders them very inexpensive surfaces.
Thanks to the thin layers the shear strains inside the layer are not excessive and when frictional stresses are encountered the layer of bonded coating reduces friction and therefore torque resulting in reduced energy requirement.
In the beginning this technology was mainly found in the aerospace industry but today it is established far wider - a main field being in the automotive industry where efficient, high performance lubrication solutions are required for example in high temperature turbo-charger fittings; even windscreen wiper blades are lubricated with a special dry lubricant !! Possible applications are endless and the Kluber Lubrication product range includes dry lubrication technology for : * Metal-metal, metal-plastics, plastics-plastics or even metal-wood or plastic-wood pairings.
* In terms of applications dry lubrication is limited by the imagination of the designer but here are a few examples.
* Mechanical face, rotary shaft lip, labyrinth seals.
* Gears - spur, bevel, worm - small plastic gears.
* Bearings - rolling, sintered or plain.
* Shaft - hub connections - keyed, spline, power-locking.
* Hydraulics and pneumatics - pumps, cylinders, valves, compressors.
* Electrical contacts - plug-in, sliding.
* Rubber components.
* Nuts, bolts, screws and other fastenings.
* Chains.
* Vacuum and radiation applications.
Of course dry lubricants can also be used in conjunction with wet lubricants in extreme demands to effect the longest possible component life. Request a free brochure from Kluber Lubrication GB ...
Is it time for you to run dry?.
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