Puris to market alloy for precision and industrial bearings
January 14, 2016
Puris, LLC based in Hazelton, West Virginia, USA, has announced it signed a limited (partially) exclusive, term license agreement with NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to produce a high-performance alloy enhanced with hafnium 60NiTi(Hf) that will be marketed under the brand name SM-103.
SM-103 demonstrates a lower residual stress than other 60 nitinol alloys, resulting in improved response to heat treatment and easier processing. The alloy delivers both wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant properties, traditionally considered to be mutually exclusive, in addition to favourable load-bearing properties. These attributes make it well suited to industrial bearing and precision bearing applications.
“Puris anticipates strong demand for SM-103 for industrial bearings in such applications as wind turbines, turbochargers, aircraft engines, gears and valves,” stated Puris CEO Craig Kirsch. “We also expect it to find a market in precision bearings for timepieces, machine spindles and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, among others. But the most exciting opportunity for us will be the new applications where the alloy’s properties offer to enhance performance and endurance.”
Puris enjoys a successful track record with NASA Glenn Research Center, having previously partnered to produce a wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant 60NiTiNOL alloy, SM-100, that is being used to produce bearings for the International Space Station’s wastewater.
