Sunday, October 29, 2017

Big Brake Problem

Just finished a proposal to the Marines. You know, the world more and more thinks smaller is better. However, it is not often that you hear this coming from a Marine.In this case, there are many more people that think big. like Marines, and have the same concern. That is because there is an entire industry, including the Marine,s that has a big problem that involves big equipment.
In the case of the Marines, the problem is now critical for improved efficiency of operation of medium and heavy tactical vehicles that operate on five axles. The same problem exists with any off road or off shore equipment that exists for transporting large loads and operates in harsh environments, such as brackish or sea water. These liquids are corrosive and  the vehicles, when traversing them are moving at high speeds,  activate the beds and create slurries of liquid containing abrasive particles. These slurries intrude into open access areas within current brake systems, thereby causing corrosion from the reactive liquid and wear from the particles entrained within the fluid.Owing to the braking components weighing as much as 400 pounds, their life becomes limited , owing to the erosion and corrosion occurring during operation. Therefore life is unpredictable and inability to operate because of brake fade or failure,and inability to operate may occur at critical times when inability to function may result in disaster.
Therefore today there is focus on resolving this problem. The ideal solution would be first of all extension of predictable life and secondly, rapid replacement and restoration of the braking system of the unit to permit resumption of operation.
Corrosion and erosion are processes occurring at surfaces of the braking components. Therefore, if the surface of the component can be improved and improved quickly at the incidence of malfunction, then a major step has resolved the problem quickly, resulting in saved lives, expensive equipment and possibly a critical time when cost is extremely critical. Once the immediate problem of unpredictable function is resolved then modeling can result in improved design resulting in reduction in weight and additional savings in cost and efficiency.
MagnaTech has developed a process whereby the surface where corrosion and erosion occurs can be modified to improve the life of components experiencing the events described above. We have shown, in a different application, that the process has equaled or exceeded life of equipment through improvement of corrosive and erosive attack without experiencing brittle failure such as results from hardfaced surfaces. This additional protection results because our process uses the alloying elements within the brake components to combine with atomic deposited condensed gases at the surface to result in stable, non-reactive intermetallic compounds that transition to the microstructure of the alloy without impairment of properties required for efficient function of the component. Therefore, yes, erosion can occur and eventually will require replacement of the component. However, life will be predictable. Furthermore, we have teamed with another company to demonstrate that should incident of failure occur  at a critical time, in a hostile environment, repair is possible that can minimize the problem or save the day.If you believe that you have need for resolution of a similar problem, MagnaTech would delight in assisting you in resolution of this problem.