VITRO-LUBE NPI-1220 |
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Of the four lubricants currently marketed by NPI, this lubricant is the most unique and most widely used. Vitro-Lube was developed by North American Aviation (Boeing North American) in 1961, for use on the XB-70 Mach 3 bomber. The principal use of this lubricant on the XB-70 was on loader slot plain spherical bearings subjected to high loads and temperatures up to +630°F. The lubricant was licensed to NPI in 1965. Vitro-Lube NPI-1220 is a high load lubricant and is composed of lubricative pigments in a ceramic binder, and carried in a common solvent. It is fired for a short period of time in a high heat recovery kiln until the surface of the lubricated part reaches +975 degrees F and held there for one minute. A top coat of a phenolic resin, MoS2 and graphite is then applied and cured for one hour at +300°F. The nominal thickness of this two coat system is 0.0006 to 0.0009 inches. Vitro-Lube NPI-1220 is supplied only as a finished material that is applied to customer furnished hardware by NPI. Although this lubricant was developed for use at high temperatures, it has been shown to be equally effective at room temperature, and at cryogenic temperatures. It has been extensively evaluated over a wide range of temperatures and load levels including fretting/vibration conditions, and based on all available comparative test data, is still unsurpassed in terms of high load wear life over its designed temperature range. Changes to the basic 1220 formula have been attempted both with the base coat and the top coat. The most successful modification was found to be a slight change to the top coat requiring a cure of +575°F with no change to the base coat. This became our Vitro-lube NPI-1220C in 1995 and provides significantly longer wear life as well as significantly lower overall friction. NPI-1220C is currently being specified on many applications and specifications have been prepared by the user(s).
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