Oerlikon Metco Develops Carbide Materials to Solve Harsh Industrial Wear Challenges
Westbury, NY (PRWEB) June 25, 2014 -- The widespread demand for increased uptime solutions encourages Oerlikon Metco to develop reliable surface technology products that protect components against wear under extreme conditions. The company, a leading surface solutions provider, manufactures specialty carbide materials needed to extend component service life and improve productivity. As a result, consumers in oil and gas, mining and other industries benefit from substantial savings in time and money.
“With rising expenses for oil and gas exploration and expectations for production companies to increase annual earnings over the next five years, it is vital that industry growth is supported by safe and reliable technologies,” states Oerlikon Metco’s Vice President for Materials Marketing, Hans Keller. “The broad choices of optimized carbide materials we offer, along with our thermal spray HVOF systems, are proven solutions for wear protection. Our clients can select tailored materials to match their specific surface needs and operating environments so they can customize their operations and significantly reduce downtime repairs and costs.”
Surfaces produced from carbide materials exhibit a high degree of toughness and are the preferred materials for parts that must withstand all forms of wear. Oerlikon Metco produces modern matrixes of sintered carbides specially designed to resist the harshest environments of corrosion, impact, high compressive loads, deformation and severe abrasion. For instance, while the company designs high-quality materials in standard cobalt matrixes for best wear protection, matrixes of nickel-cobalt-chromium are available for environments that require corrosion resistance. The type of carbide used in the material, as well as the carbide grain size, is also tailored for the specific application. “We excel at combining composite carbides with the precise types of matrixes,” explains Manfred Oechsle, product line manager at Oerlikon Metco for carbides and hardfacing materials. “The key is to design a carbide and matrix combination with the right wear and the right corrosion resistance.”
Thermal-sprayed carbide coatings are used in industrial applications to protect surfaces against harmful effects such as abrasion, adhesion, solid particle erosion, cavitation, fretting, impact, galling, sliding wear, hard surfaces and complex, combined wear mechanisms. A typical example consists of high-pressure gate valves used in the oil and gas industry for flow diversion and safety applications. These are exposed to galling, abrasion and erosion causing leaks or faulty actuation. Oerlikon Metco carbide coatings protect gates and seats from damaging surface attacks ensuring smooth actuation and the safety and integrity of the valves. “Our agglomerated and sintered carbides materials are designed to produce high-end surface coatings with exceptional characteristics such as excellent seawater corrosion and cavitation resistance,” states Manfred Oechsle. “Our goal is to help operators maximize production by providing them the most resilient surface coatings to extend tool and component life. We've been able to improve our customers’ productivity and deliver unprecedented levels of efficiency in many industries.”
About Oerlikon Metco
Oerlikon Metco enhances surfaces with coating solutions and equipment. Customers benefit from a uniquely broad range of surface technologies, coating solutions, equipment, materials, services, and specialized machining services and components. The innovative solutions improve performance and increase efficiency and reliability. Oerlikon Metco serves industries such as power generation, avia-tion, automotive, and other specialized markets. The Surface Solutions Segment operates a dynami-cally growing network of currently over 130 facilities with over 110 coating centers in 35 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia, employing around 6000 people. The Surface Solutions Segment is part of the Switzerland-based Oerlikon Group.
Adriana Fitting, Oerlikon Metco, http://www.oerlikon.com/metco/en/, +1 516 338 2422, [email protected]
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