Tungsten Disulfide Coating Used to Treat Gearboxes

Gearbox is a very important part of the vehicles. Its performance is the key to measure the power, economy and drivability of construction machinery. The tungsten disulfide coating is used to treat the gearbox, which effectively extends the gearbox's service life.

Tungsten disulfide coating is also called tungsten disulfide solid lubrication film. Manufacturers mix organic binder (epoxy resin) or inorganic binder (sodium silicate, etc.) with tungsten disulfide powder and other materials to form a film agent, then they spray or brush the film agent on the friction surface to form a solid film with self-lubricating properties. The solid film is tungsten disulfide coating.

In the long-term use of the gearbox, the parts in it are easy to suffer wear and tear because of the frequent shifting, which leads to the difficulties in hanging gear, the automatic off gear, and the noise in the running process. These all affect the use of the gearbox. To solve this problem, the tungsten disulfide coating is applied in treating the gearbox, extending the working life of it effectively.

For example, British motorcyclist Stuart. Medd applied the tungsten disulfide coating to his cars’ gearboxes. He found that the gearbox ran smoother with the tungsten disulfide. Similarly, the gears in the gearboxes of U.S. military helicopters were treated with tungsten disulfide coating, which greatly improves the smooth operation of the gears.

The tungsten disulfide coating used to treat gearboxes has the following advantages:

(1) The coating film is only 0.5 micron, will not bring any shape changes to the parts;

(2) The coating film contains micropore and has an affinity for lubricants, thus ensuring that there is always a lubricating layer (tungsten disulfide and lubricants) on the surface of the gear;

(3) Tungsten disulfide can withstand the high temperature of 650℃;

(4) Tungsten disulfide is chemically inert and does not react with metal substrates;

(5) Tungsten disulfide has a low friction coefficient, which can greatly reduce the heat generated in the gearbox;

(6) Reduce the force required by gear transformation to a large extent, making the operation more rapid and smooth.

(7) Tungsten disulfide retarded the appearance of tiny-pits on the surface of gear.