Technical Info
In this area you will be able to find information about the custom technology we've implemented and our extensive technical data about various dry film lubrications from our own internal testing, independent lab testing, and scholarly industry research.
Why do we provide extensive product details?
As we expanded our dry film lubrication offerings, we found numerous discrepancies between the actual functional properties versus what our customers thought the coatings provided. There has been misleading information about tungsten disulfide capabilities in circulation for decades because of outdated research which companies have continued to reference, so we will be sharing our own in-house test data, independent lab test data, and scholar research reports so our customers can see which product will work for them.
For example, WS2 is commonly believed to have the lowest friction of any dry film lubrication available, which is only possible under certain application conditions. Even decades after the discovery of WS2, NASA public reports still state that tungsten disulfide has a higher coefficient of friction than molybdenum disulfide, which coincides with our friction testing results. If you analyze the molecular properties of both tungsten disulfide and molybdenum disulfide and how their lamellar subunits are bonded together you will find that the shear strength of molybdenum disulfide is lower than tungsten disulfide, meaning molybdenum disulfide will have a lower coefficient of friction up to a certain PSI load.
Using physical and molecular properties we are able to understand when to use our products not based on industry, but based on application-specific variables. Understanding these properties has also allowed us to develop new products to enhance weaker properties such as corrosion-resistance and oxidation.
Our Custom Technology
Application Nozzles
We develop our own custom blast nozzles to eliminate coating restrictions which our competitors have, such as a 2:1 hole depth-to-diameter limitation. The purpose of our custom blast nozzles is to ensure 100% coating quality and process parts much faster, simultaneously yielding a lower price and higher quality for our customers. These nozzles are designed by F.A.S.T, manufactured at F.A.S.T, and are only used by F.A.S.T.
Masking Fixtures
Since 2020, we’ve implemented additive manufacturing using 3D printers in order to create custom masking solutions for small parts, uniquely-shaped parts, and safety-critical parts. Since then, every part which was fixtured has had 100% quality rate with 100% on time delivery, at an average of 35% lower sell price. This process eliminated using traditional tape-and-cut or sticker methods, preventing any potential error of leaving tape/sticker residue on the part or scratching the part with a knife when cutting tape from around holes; this is particularly important in the aerospace industry for safety critical parts. Our advantage is that we both design the fixtures and manufacture the fixtures in-house, whereas other companies outsource the process and subsequently increase cost and delivery times for customers.
Product Technical Information and Research
As we continue research and development on our processes, we update this section with new information about the products we offer and their technical data. All data will have research references and is primarily based on quantitative values.
Optimal Surface Finish for Tungsten Disulfide and Molybdenum Disulfide
The surface finish, RA, of a part has an effect on how well tungsten disulfide or molybdenum disulfide performs. WS2 is effective on RA of <19 and MoS2 is effective on RA of < 197. We see our customers moving to a MoS2 coating due to typical surface finishes ranging between 32 and 125. 90% of our current WS2 customers would benefit from a MoS2 coating applied to the AMS 2526 specification.
Extended Friction & Wear of WS2 vs MoS2
Since most testing requirements for molybdenum disulfide per AMS 2526 and tungsten disulfide per AMS 2530 are pass/fail conditions, our customers often want to know how far beyond the required test conditions our coatings will work at. For example, friction and wear testing for molybdenum disulfide only requires the coating to last 15 minutes under ASTM D2714 testing. We test our coatings to a higher standard, and found that our MoS2 coating takes up to 309 minutes to reach a failure point.
Outgassing of Tungsten Disulfide & Molybdenum Disulfide
A minimal amount of ougassing is an important property required for space-bound lubrications. We perform outgassing tests on every lot of tungsten disulfide as required by the AMS 2530 specification. There is no outgassing test required for molybdenum disulfide for the AMS 2526 specification, but we tested our current lot and it passed the requirements of ASTM E595 for space use.
Conductivity of Tungsten Disulfide & Molybdenum Disulfide
One of our customers asked us about the conductivity of tungsten disulfide compared to molybdenum disulfide, as they were trying to electrically bond two mating surfaces together and heard that tungsten disulfide is conductive whereas molybdenum disulfide is not. Based on our research and testing, however, we found that while both materials are classified as semiconductors, molybdenum disulfide actually has a slightly higher electrical conductivity than tungsten disulfide.