Frictec’s unique Friction Surfacing process allows special hard wearing alloys to be deposited directly at a knife’s cutting edge. The first step is to mill a recess at the edge of a tough substrate and then fill the recess using Friction Surfacing. After finishing processes, the result is a blade with a hard, wear resistant edge and a tough backing material. With the extremely strong bond that is formed between the coated deposit (TMC45) and the substrate, there is no risk of delaminating.

TMC45 provides significant performance advantages over conventional machine knives. A wide variety of other wear parts can also be manufactured to offer the same unique characteristics.

A key inherent benefit of our process is the near ideal microstructure developed in the deposited material, which consist of an ultra-fine martensitic matrix with fine carbides uniformly distributed throughout the structure.

Wear resistance= Hardness + Carbides.

Wear resistance is not dependent on the hardness of steel alone. Although hardness is an important factor, the combination of both hardness and the enhanced carbide formation present in TMC45’s microstructure, is the key to improved initial sharpness and increased operating life.

Friction surfacing is a process derived from a friction welding whereby a coating material, in a rod form (termed the mechtrode TM) is rotated under pressure, generating a plasticised layer in the rod at the interface with the substrate. By moving a substrate across the face of the rotating rod a plasticised layer between 0.2-2.5mm thick is deposited (depending on mechtrode diameter and coating material). The resulting composite material is created to provide the characteristics demanded by any given application.

During the coating process, the applied layer of metal reaches a temperature near the melting point whilst simultaneously undergoing plastic deformation. The coating is thus the product of a hot forging action, as opposed to the casting mechanism inherent in welding and spraying processes. This important difference means that many of the defects commonly associated with these techniques are avoided.

Friction surfacing has significant advantages over competing processes. It introduces machine tool technology to surfacing engineering, making the process reliable and repeatable. It is also a solid phase process that metallurgically bonds the coating to the substrate without the problems of porosity, slag inclusions or dilution experienced with traditional welding processes.

Frictec is the only company able to offer Friction Surfacing on a commercial basis and has many years experience applying the technology to practical wear applications. We continue to develop the process and its capabilities with our in-house R&D team working in cooperation with various industrial and academic partners. With our specialised equipment and dedicated R&D facility, Frictec is able to develop ideal composite materials for new applications. With the appropriate material selection, specific characteristics can be obtained to achieve:

• Improved wear resistance
• Protection against corrosion
• Homogenous repairs to valuable components
• Desired thermal/electrical conductive properties

Wide ranges of component sizes and geometries have been successfully coated and many materials, including specialist alloys, have been investigated and analysed. An extensive database has been established, which has led to the development of sophisticated process modelling software used to help predict process parameters for new materials.

Machine capabilities include depositing steel mechtrode diameters from 2mm-32mm with linear tracks as long as 2m in a single run.
The following examples show some of the geometries that have been successfully Friction Surfaced.

• Onto a flat surface
• Into and edge or central recess
• Pre-formed hole spot deposits
• Precise location deposits