Sisu Chemical has received a half-million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to commercialize its proprietary water-based emulsion polymer cold-forging lubricant.
In partnership with the mechanical engineering department at North Carolina State University, Raleigh-based Sisu Chemical LLC received a phase-one NSF grant in 2004 to develop an environmentally friendly synthetic lubricant for cold-forged metals.
The resulting new lubricant is a significant technical breakthrough, said David Stark, Sisus founder, president and sole employee. Last month the NSF awarded his company a two-year $487,141 phase-two Small Business Technology Transfer grant to commercialize its proprietary new lubricant.
Cold forging – forming metal at ambient temperature – produces very high strength materials. But up to the present, Stark told Lube Report, cold forging generally required immersing the metal in a series of six to nine baths of zinc stearates and phosphoric acids that react with the metal surface. The process can be slow, and the spent fluids, containing heavy metals and acids, must be disposed of as hazardous wastes.
By contrast, Stark said, with Sisus new system, the metal receives a single coating with the proprietary water-based polymer.
We held our first commercial trial last week, said Stark, and it looks like you can just apply the material and not even wait for it to dry. You can apply it wet and press.
Intended for use with carbon steel, the new lubricant may also be suitable for stainless steel, he added. Markets for the new lubricant include automotive and defense manufacturing, hand tools, anywhere there is a need for high-strength metals, Stark said.
Sisu is now working with its current lubricant suppliers to optimize the formula and conduct field trials, in order to bring the new lubricant to market. Stark hopes his environmentally friendly product can even help stabilize the forging industry in the United States. It will allow companies to do their own in-house cold forging, he said.