Lapping or Polishing
March 20, 2019
Every manufacturing unit has an application that operates under extreme conditions such as high pressure and temperature, high and low shaft speeds, etc. Solid or dry film lubricants are solid materials that help to reduce friction between interacting surfaces in extreme conditions.
In most manufacturing applications, mineral oil based fluid lubricants are applied between two operating surfaces to reduce friction. These oil lubricants produce an oil film that protects surfaces from sliding against each other. However, at extreme conditions, these fluid lubricants may vaporize or freeze, thereby prohibiting formation of an oil film. Dry film coating materials are added to fluid lubricants or applied to surfaces to prevent loss of oil film coating or replace oil altogether.
3 Popular Solid Film Lubricant Materials
Following are three most popular types of dry film coating materials:
• Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2): Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2), alternatively known as Moly, is a widely used solid film lubricants. MoS2 coating is used for applications where coefficient of friction, load, and operating temperatures may be stretched to extremes. The MoS2 starts oxidizing at 600°F and it can function as a lubricant up to 400°C (752°F). However, in an oxygen-free atmosphere, the temperature limitation for MoS2 is 1300°F.
• Tungsten Disulfide (WS2): Tungsten Disulfide is a very popular dry coating material used in many manufacturing plants. WS2 exhibits excellent lubricating properties. It has a lower coefficient of friction than MoS2 and exhibits lubricant properties up to 650°C in normal atmospheres and up to 1316 deg C in vacuum. It was originally developed for the Mariner space missions and has since been widely used in aerospace, semiconductor, biomedical and automotive applications
• Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE): Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), alternatively known as Teflon®, is used as an additive in mineral oil-based lubricants. PTFE has a low operating temperature of 260 °C and smallest coefficients of friction when compared to MoS2 and WS2.
Operating temperature and coefficient of friction are the two basic factors taken into consideration while selecting any of the above-mentioned dry film lubrications for a manufacturing plant. However, the lubrication engineer would be the best person to decide on which dry lubricant will be perfect for an application. Please visit our website at www.ws2coating.com, email us at info@ws2coating.com or cal at +1 408-723-0700 for more information on any of our coatings or products.