Duralor has ultimately perfected the cubic boron nitride (cBN) composite coatings for metal cutting tools after a long and intensive research of seven years. Duralor is also commercializing the coatings as TuffTek® to tool makers. This technology can help in achieving cost reduction, increasing the output and saving energy. Duralor has signed its first contract for the commercialization of this product with a major automobile manufacturer.
Several previous efforts made by prominent cutting tool companies to successfully apply cBN as a coating had failed. However, with release of Duralor's patented TuffTek product line users can expect to gain the higher performance and longevity advantages of cBN at immensely lower cost.
cBN was long known for its great thermal stability, super high wear resistance and chemical inertness however its successful utilization as a coating always remained a problematic area.
"This is a significant breakthrough in the machine tool industry. For the first time, all manufacturers have a cost effective and chip control option for cutting hard materials," said Jim Adams, P.E., a cutting tool applications expert and president of A-Tech Services.
The TuffTek-coated tools outmatched traditional coatings by 300 percent or more in a side-by-side comparison for the machining of hardened steel. For instance, TuffTek tools yielded nine finished shafts per tool as compared to conventional titanium aluminium nitride coated tools which typically yielded three, in turning A2 steel (58 HRC) shafts. TuffTek brought a 50 percent reduction in time required to machine each shaft, thus reducing the labor.
TuffTek was developed by adopting an untraditional approach; the method involves an electrostatic spraying of cBN particles on the tool followed by chemical vapor infiltration of traditional coating materials. The material applied by chemical vapor infiltration can be titanium nitride, titanium carbo-nitride, titanium carbide, hafnium nitride or other materials.
The TuffTek technology is covered by multiple patents and patents pending.
The core technology was exclusively licensed from the University of Arkansas in 2002 by NanoMech, Duralor's parent company, a technology company based in Fayetteville, Ark.
