Low friction abrasive coating for steel? 1

[Bgoldstein]

I have an application where will have a steel (could be another material if needed) auger turning very slowly in sand. Need to have as low a coefficient of friction as possible, to reduce my load and torque requirements. Any suggestions on what to coat the auger blades with?

We tried a sample in the lab with a polished steel auger coated with a dry lubricant spray. Worked great initially, but quickly became very hard to turn - looks like the dry film was rubbed off and sand starting sticking. Hard to tell that the auger was even polished, as is now very rough after the abrasion and from the sand sticking.



Thanks for your help.


Brett Goldstein

 

[boo1]

We conducted studies of hard facing materials with low friction. Try contacting:
Richard I. Smallwood
Business Development Manager
Analytical Services and Materials, Inc.
107 Research Drive
Hampton, VA 23666
Phone: 757-865-7093
Fax: 757-865-7309

 

[bradphillips]

another possible contact is micro surface corporation

http://www.microsurface.com

 

[JimMetalsCeramics]

I would suggest thermal spray coating with a ceramic and then lapping the surface very smooth afterwards. There are a few tricks to the lapping. How big is the auger?

Another option is TiN sputter coating, but this will only be a few microns in thickness. It will not require post-lapping. Many contract hoses deposit TiN and TiCN, etc., for cutting tools. I believe

http://www.ticoating.com

also performs CVD coating. This is much thicker than a sputtered film.

Have you tried case hardening?

 

[Fixturedesign]

http://www.surfalloy.com

Their products mainly increase the coefficient of friction, but there is one product that descreases it.

 

[mnielsen]

Brett,

I work for a company (IonBond) that does both PVD (cathotic arc deposition, and sputtering) and CVD coatings. Depending on the size of and material used for your auger, either process could be beneficial. You can check out more at

http://www.ionbond.com.

Also, thermal spray ceramics and carbides can be useful in these applications due to the ability to apply them thicker than PVD and CVD films.

Good luck,

Mike Nielsen

 

[mx2mx2]

Try a dry lubricant that is easy to apply yourself and can be found at

http://www.kiss-cote.com.

It has worked for many of my applications.

Good luck,

Malcolm

 

[corrosionman]

If the geometry of your stirrer permits then the best way is to bond small tiles to the front faces of the arms - - the sides also if necessary. The tiles are extreemly hard wearing and made from Alumina or even better, from Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide. they will polish to a smooth glossy finish and last for ever. Regards. DW