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HFW Industries Technical Talk, Episode 2: HVOF Coating
36 Plays1 year ago
This is the second in a series of podcasts delving into the technical aspects of our business. In this episode, we explore high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) coatings, which have become a staple in HFW's service offerings.
HFW has years of experience performing HVOF coatings and has achieved dramatic results--with HVOF, we have been able to take customers' equipment from a lifespan of 6 months to a lifespan of 5-6 YEARS. At HFW, we pride ourselves on being a true solutions provider, and our HVOF coating process is just one example of that.
If you have any additional questions or would like additional information about our HVOF process, please feel free to email jdwatson@hfwindustries.com. As always, thank you for listening!
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Focus
00:00:12
Speaker
Okay. And welcome to the second episode of the HFW industries technical talk podcast in this part of the podcast. We're going to be discussing the more technical side of the business and how what we do can help our customers improve the life and the wear and corrosion resistant properties of their equipment.
Meet Matt Watson and HVOF Overview
00:00:36
Speaker
And so we're back with Matt Watson, our vice president. And today we'll be talking about our high-velocity oxyfuel coating process, or HVOF, as it's commonly referred to. So Matt, first, can you discuss just a quick overview of the process and what it is and what it does?
00:00:59
Speaker
HVOF, high velocity oxyfuel, is where we are combusting fuel gases such as propylene, hydrogen, kerosene with oxygen. And that is those combust to produce a hypersonic jet stream.
00:01:19
Speaker
So very, very as the name implies, very high velocity flame speed. And so we talked in the first episode about our thermal spray coatings as a whole. HVOF is one weapon in that repertoire. There's a bunch of different coding processes that you can take. Why would you do HVOF?
HVOF Benefits and Applications
00:01:42
Speaker
HVOF typically is
00:01:47
Speaker
one of the highest quality coatings that you can deposit. We do a number of processes here. But in terms of the hardest, highest bond strength, and densest coatings, it's usually with the HVOF process. And for example, one material that we spray quite a bit of is tungsten carbide.
00:02:11
Speaker
And that really is better. You get a better coding typically when you use HVOF as compared to, say, plasma spraying. So that's why we've gone over the years. A lot of the traditional processes have switched over the HVOF because it's got such a high bond strength, low porosity coding.
00:02:37
Speaker
Yeah, so we're doing a lot of HVOF here. You touched on some of the materials. What are good applications of an HVOF process in terms of the materials you're using and then the environment that the part would be going into?
00:02:54
Speaker
Well, there are a lot of materials available for HVOF. This is not an all inclusive list, but the most common materials that we spray here at HFW would be tungsten carbide, and there are various blends, whether it's tungsten carbide cobalt, tungsten carbide nickel,
00:03:14
Speaker
various stainless steels, 316, 420, Incanels, 718, 625, Hastelloy C is also a large requirement of ours. And then you get into materials such as chrome carbide, stellite, various stellites. So those are the main ones that we spray almost weekly.
00:03:44
Speaker
Okay. And then in terms of, so HVF is a pretty high end process. Um, it has a lot of the, the, when you're looking for the talk about the bond strength, um, it leaves a nice finish even, um, it's done a very high temperatures. What, uh, our applications, what type of, um, conditions would you recommend HVF for?
HVOF Excellence in Wear and Corrosion Resistance
00:04:10
Speaker
Well, HPOF wear resistance, we get the best wear resistance.
00:04:20
Speaker
I take that back. Typically, our better wear resistance coatings are HFOF. Also, corrosion resistance because of the density. We have a number of coatings which have performed well because of the low porosity. So therefore, if corrosion is a concern, that's where the low porosity comes in to help that coating combat the corrosion issue that you're facing.
00:04:49
Speaker
And we do a lot of work consulting with customers on different applications that would work for them. Can you speak a little bit about just the history of our problem solving and kind of our nature as a solutions provider when it comes to wearing corrosion issues?
00:05:07
Speaker
Well, in terms of one of our more famous examples of solving a problem for a customer, it's a ware and corrosive environment. And we took the life of their
00:05:24
Speaker
life of their role from six months to about five to six years. And it was really working with the customer and seeing what they were trying to accomplish. And we tried a number of different things and finally came across one material that seemed to work well. And also our customer, the one metallurgist who really got this going,
00:05:51
Speaker
He kind of put his neck out there on the line, but he felt strongly that this would help his company and sure enough it did.
00:05:59
Speaker
Well, I think five to six months to five years speaks for itself. And we also have a large or a long relationship with our material suppliers as well. And I think that's been a big part of it and working in conjunction with them to develop some proprietary coatings. Can you talk about what that's done and what that enables us to do in terms of helping our customers solve problems?
Overcoming Customer Challenges with HVOF
00:06:26
Speaker
Well, we have many relationships in the industry, and a couple of those relationships have helped us over the years develop some proprietary codings. And we're able to use their expertise and help us provide additional solutions for our customers.
00:06:50
Speaker
And it's been, for example, the example I brought up a minute or two ago, that's one of our proprietary codings. And we wouldn't have got there without some good support from one of our vendors, coding vendors. Yeah, absolutely.
HVOF Limitations and Comparisons
00:07:13
Speaker
Uh, when it comes to we've talked where HUF works well, is there any time that you would caution against using it? Uh, obviously it's, uh, when you look at the continuum, uh, just looking at a chart right before this of our different spray processes, HVOF tends to be, um, the best of the best in terms of what it's offering. What is there any case that you might offer or you might recommend a different solution?
00:07:38
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, it depends on, we have a number of different processes and they all have their pluses and minuses. So for example, ceramic coatings, we apply ceramic coatings here with the plasma spray process.
00:07:55
Speaker
Um, it's not really fee. I know people have sprayed ceramics, kind of an experimental, um, stage with, with HVOF, but that's not really cost effective or practical. So ceramics.
00:08:11
Speaker
are still mainly applied by plasma spraying. Also too, one disadvantage of HVOF is you cannot go as thick as a process such as twin wire arc or electric arc. One of the main advantages of electric arc is you can go extremely thick in terms of
00:08:37
Speaker
of a coating deposit. Whereas HPOF, we typically like to keep those coatings about 25 to 30 thousandths thick as sprayed.
00:08:51
Speaker
So if you're looking to go heavy on something, you might need to go with a different process. Yeah, yeah. Or there are some materials that you can spray with HVOF, or it's not ideal. So all of these processes have, as I said, advantages and disadvantages. And it's really talking to the customer to see what they're looking for and
00:09:16
Speaker
And a lot of times we have good relationships and conversations with our customers and we can come up with the process that's best for them.
Building Strong Customer Relationships
00:09:25
Speaker
Well, and that's why I think when we discuss what type of relationship we're looking for, the best successes that we've had and through that our customers have had have always been when there's a back and forth and we're able to give our customers some recommendations and advice based on things that we've seen before. That tends to work well for both sides.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, correct. That's a really important thing. I was telling someone the other day,
00:09:57
Speaker
We've had a number of, not just from a coding standpoint, but we have another really successful application more on the machining and welding side of our business and it was really just from getting to know our customer and they were both walking in the hallway and came across some parts that they were going to scrap and they ended up coming up with a
00:10:22
Speaker
very unique solution and you wouldn't necessarily come across that if you're only talking over the phone. Sometimes you have to get out and see your customers and see their process and what are the issues they're facing, whether it's wear or corrosion or some other issue in their process or business.
00:10:46
Speaker
And that was something that was discovered several years ago. And we still help that customer with today, which I think goes to the longevity of the relationships we like to build. And we're not in this to make a quick buck. We're really in it to help our customers find true solutions that boost their uptime and the lifespan of their equipment.
00:11:07
Speaker
Correct.
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:11:08
Speaker
So I think that just about wraps up our discussion today of our HVOF coding process. Again, this is the second part in a series of discussions about how the services we offer here at HFW can help expand the life of your equipment. If you have any questions, feel free to send us an email or check out our website at hfwindustries.com. And until the next episode, we'll see you then. Thanks.
00:11:41
Speaker
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