National Process Industries

National Process Industries Vitro-Lube NPI-1220C is a modified lubricant coating and have obtained increased performance similar to our in-house tests. NPI-1220C has been tested on actual hardware for some of the newer aerospace designs and the results have been consistently superior to other tested products. A number of these designs have involved gears and screw threads which are applications where dry film lubricants are not normally considered to be at their best but where the 1220C coating has been consistently superior to other coatings, and has exceeded all design requirements.

National Process Industries Vitro-Lube NPI-1220 lubricant is the most unique and widely used lubricant among our products. Vitro-Lube is technology that was generated by the XB-70 group at the Los Angeles Division of North American Aviation, Inc. (now The Boeing Company). It was the result of a crash program initiated after exhaustive screening and evaluation which revealed that the dry film lubricant industry had not advanced the state-of-the-art to a point that would come close to meeting the requirements of the XB-70 Mach 3 aircraft. NPI negotiated an exclusive license with NAA in 1965 and proceeded to further evaluate the process as it would relate to other vehicles and systems, Now, over 50 years later, we feel safe in claiming that Vitro-Lube is that very special dry film commercially available for use at temperatures up to +700°F while at the same time offering outstanding performance at room temperature and 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.

National Process Industries NPI-425 lubricant contains MoS₂, and other lubricating pigments in a polymide high temperature resin and was developed by Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, Missouri in connection with a contract with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. NPI has been licensed by MRI to formulate, apply and market this lubricant since 1968. This lubricant was developed for use at temperatures up to 500°F and in hard vacuum environments. NPI-425 has excellent wear life, having 3 to 5 times longer wear life than MIL-L-8937 lubricants at room temperature and 5 to 10 times longer at 450 F. It passes ASTM E595 outgassing requirements and is radiation resistant. The nominal thickness of this lubricant is 0.0002 to 0.0004 inches and is cured for 1 hour at +300°F followed by 1 hour at 575°F and, therefore, would not be considered suitable for use on some metallic substrates such as aluminum. Tests have shown, however, that acceptable performance can be obtained by increasing the 300°F cure time to 5 hours and eliminating the 575°F cure procedure. Tests also show that this lubricant has a very constant and low coefficient of friction compared to other lubricants.

National Process Industries NPI-14 lubricant contains MoS₂ and graphite as the lubricating pigments, and phenolic resin as the binder system. The MoS₂ to graphite ratio and the ratio of lubricating pigments to resin is representative of what was classed as a “good” lubricant in the series of round-robin tests conducted in the late 1960s to establish a technique for measuring wear life of bonded solid lubricant coatings using the Falex Pin and Vee Groove tester. This technique was subsequently released as ASTM specification D2625-69 and is the technique specified in military specifications MIL-L-8937 and MIL-L-46010. Although this lubricant is representative of the first bonded lubricants to be used, it is still the type approved by a number of companies for many applications which is the reason that NPI continues to offer NPI-14 to our customers.

National Process Industries NPI-16 lubricant is essentially identical to the NPI-14 lubricant except the graphite has been replaced with other non-corrosion pigments. The nominal thickness and cure temperature are identical to NPI-14. It is intended for applications to surfaces that will be subjected to mechanical wear. The purpose of this product in it’s finished form is to reduce friction or prevent galling and seizure and to remain stable over it’s designed temperature range of -65°F to 300°F. Because it contains no graphite or powered metals it will not promote corrosion or have a deleterious effect on adjacent structures. NPI-16 is intended to meet the requirements of MIL-L-46010 Type I. Wear Life Testing is routinely conducted using the Falex Pin and V-Block tester per ASTM D2625-69 Procedure A., material being used as noted: Pins SAE 3135 Steel, V-Blocks AISIC 1137 Steel, Average wear life is 5.5 hours.