Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation has announced that its proprietary Eatonite laser clad coating technology has been certified by independent test services company DNV after fulfilling requirements stated in the 'Guideline for qualification of wear and corrosion protection surface materials for piston rods' developed as part of a Joint Industry Project (JIP).
'Eaton is the first and, to date, the only cylinder manufacturing company that has passed the JIP test requirements,' said Dr Luis F Garfias, director of testing and qualification for DNV's Materials & Corrosion Technology Centre in Columbus, Ohio.
'DNV-certified Eatonite laser coating technology is a significant breakthrough for upstream, offshore applications in the oil and gas industry,' said Astrid Mozes, vice president and general manager of Eaton's controls division. 'It will also provide new solutions in key industries like hydropower and virtually anywhere else piston rods are exposed to severe environmental corrosion.'
Piston rod samples made of SAE 4130 steel coated with Eatonite were tested against the JIP standard at DNV laboratories in Høvik, Norway, and Columbus, Ohio, for a wide range of physical, mechanical, and electrochemical properties.
'Controlling corrosion is an ongoing challenge for the offshore oil industry,' said Dr Alexander Bogicevic, senior technology manager of Eaton's Innovation Centre in Southfield, Mich. 'We developed the Eatonite laser coating technology to extend the life of piston rods used in hydraulic riser tensioning systems on offshore platforms,' he said.
'After proprietary processing, the Eatonite material is twice as hard as conventional Inconel 625, a well known corrosion resistant alloy (CRA), but also has good cladding homogeneity due to the novel laser technology developed to deposit the Eatonite. As confirmed by the DNV certification testing, Eatonite-clad rods deliver the mechanical performance of traditional SAE 4130 steel piston rods, along with the corrosion resistance expected for CRA materials like Inconel 625. It really does give customers the best of both worlds.'
