Fluorine Resin Sliding Member Coating for Low-Torque Oil Pumps
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in producing sliding members for oil pumps is achieving accurate film thickness control of crosslinked fluorine resin coatings, which affects oil repellency and torque reduction, as conventional polishing methods are inefficient and can compromise surface smoothness.
Innovation Solution
A sliding member with a metal body and a crosslinked fluorine resin outer layer, where the arithmetic average roughness of the high-frequency surface is controlled to be no greater than 0.035 μm through specific lamination and irradiation processes, eliminating the need for conventional polishing and enhancing oil repellency and torque reduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional polishing methods are used to control film thickness accuracy, then manufacturing precision is improved, but production efficiency deteriorates and surface smoothness may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The fluorine resin coating is applied with preliminary control of film thickness during the coating process itself, rather than relying on post-coating polishing. This preliminary action ensures accurate film thickness while eliminating time-consuming polishing operations, thereby improving both manufacturing precision and production efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical polishing process is replaced with a controlled coating process that achieves accurate film thickness through process control rather than mechanical removal. This substitution eliminates the need for polishing equipment and operations, significantly improving production efficiency while maintaining or enhancing manufacturing precision
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional polishing is performed to achieve smooth surface, then surface finish is improved, but oil repellency deteriorates due to remaining unevenness
Solution Approach 1:
The approach changes from mechanical polishing to controlling the coating process parameters themselves. By optimizing coating conditions, film thickness, and curing parameters, the fluorine resin coating achieves both smooth surface finish and proper oil repellency characteristics, eliminating the trade-off between smoothness and oil repellency
Solution Approach 2:
The fluorine resin coating acts as a composite material layer that provides both surface smoothness and oil repellency properties simultaneously. The crosslinked fluorine resin structure inherently combines these properties, eliminating the need for separate polishing and surface treatment steps
3Manufacturing precision
If polishing operations are extended to achieve sufficient film thickness accuracy, then manufacturing precision is improved, but production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Film thickness accuracy is established preliminarily during the coating application and curing process through controlled parameters, eliminating the need for extended polishing operations. This preliminary precision control significantly reduces production time while maintaining accurate film thickness
Solution Approach 2:
The process skips the time-consuming polishing step entirely by achieving accurate film thickness control during the coating process itself. This rushing through of the critical dimension control to the coating stage rather than the finishing stage dramatically reduces total production time
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a sliding member with improved oil repellency and reduced torque, maintaining excellent wear resistance and production efficiency by controlling the fine roughness component of the fluorine resin coating, ensuring effective interaction with oil and long-term durability.
Implementation Method 1
a step of irradiating the outer layer with ionizing radiation
Data Source
AI summary
A sliding member according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a sliding member body containing a metal as a main component; and an outer layer laminated directly on a surface of the sliding member body and containing a crosslinked fluorine resin as a main component, and an arithmetic average roughness Ra1 of a surface having a waveform obtained by extracting a frequency component of a region having waviness having a frequency of not lower than 0.1 μm and not higher than 100.0 μm on a surface of the outer layer through fast Fourier transform processing, and performing inverse Fourier transform processing on data of a frequency component of a region having waviness having a frequency of not lower than 0.1 μm and not higher than 10.0 μm out of the extracted frequency component, is not greater than 0.035 μm.