In recent years, oil-based lubricants have increasingly been replaced by water-based lubricants. For forging nickel-based alloys, high melting point alloys, and titanium workpieces, boron nitride coatings are often used both as a lubricant and to prevent oxidation of the workpieces.
Characteristics of Forging Lubricants
1. The lubricant should uniformly wet the surface to prevent areas with no lubrication.
2. It should leave no residues, as residues can accumulate in the depths of the forging die, affecting tolerances or the surface quality of the workpiece. Additionally, it should not deposit on equipment or the environment and should be easy to clean.
3. It must not corrode the die and should provide an enhanced protective coating for the die.
4. It should have some cooling effect.
5. It should be suitable for automatic feeding and ideally for spray application.
6. It should not pollute the environment or produce substances harmful to health.
7. It should have good storage stability.
8. A concentrated lubricant should be dilutable to meet different lubrication requirements for various forging processes.
9. It should be economically reasonable in price.
Functions of Boron Nitride Lubricants in Forging Processes
Boron nitride lubricants are applied to the metal surface, providing protection from room temperature to high temperatures during the entire metal processing. During pressure and thermal deformation, they offer protection, lubrication, thermal insulation, and bonding. These lubricants provide dual functions: protecting the billet and lubricating the die.
Boron nitride lubricants can prevent or delay the diffusion and migration of O2, H2, N2, and metal ions at working temperatures. They exhibit good adhesion and wettability with the metal substrate at high temperatures, possess high compressive and tensile strength, and good plasticity, allowing the lubricant film to extend with the metal without cracking. Boron nitride lubricants are inert to surrounding media and do not corrode metals. They have a suitable melting point, high-temperature viscosity, and excellent thermal stability. The coating exhibits self-healing properties at working temperatures. For specific uses, boron nitride lubricants can achieve self-peeling and anti-slip functions, applicable to free forging of various metal materials.
Boron nitride lubricants have a low thermal conductivity and good insulation properties, significantly improving the plasticity of metals. They are environmentally friendly materials, free of toxic and volatile components. Thus, they offer protection (against oxidation, decarburization, hydrogen absorption, etc.), lubrication, demolding, thermal insulation, and high-temperature bonding. These lubricants reduce deformation resistance, improve plasticity, enhance surface quality, reduce metal material loss, and extend the service life of dies (by up to twice as long).
Applications
Boron nitride lubricants can be used in a temperature range of 400-1500°C. They are widely used in processes such as die forging, precision forging, isothermal forging, warm forging, sheath forging, tube extrusion, precision extrusion, warm extrusion, superplastic forming, rolling, drawing, piercing, billet forging, spinning, and more. They are suitable for various special deformation parts, large structural parts, and the hot forming of hard-to-deform alloys. They can also be used as heat treatment and protective coatings. Their applications include titanium alloys, high-temperature alloys, stainless steel, structural steel, other non-ferrous metals, ferrous metals, and refractory alloys. They are compatible with various heating methods, including electric furnaces, oil furnaces, gas furnaces, and induction heating.
In conclusion, using boron nitride lubricants is a necessary means to achieve precision in forged blanks, improving metal material utilization, reducing costs, saving time, and increasing efficiency.
Product page:https://www.ceramic-solutions.com/Boron-Nitride.html
Contact page:https://www.ceramic-solutions.com/Contact.html
