ISO coated spring maker 2

[SwimTsunami2]

I have a "pipe" section that gets hit by abrasive material, essentially sandblasting it. There is not much we can do to prevent this from happening, to mitigate the issue a 1/4-inch thick Rubber sheet ~2.5" tall is glued onto the 4-inch "pipe" as a sacrificial layer and is removed by the technicians when it starts to wear through. I would like to get rings of spring steel that have a rubber coating such that we could pull a failed ring out and slide a new ring as needed, with the spring force holding the liner in place, thus making the change out process fast and easy. The lining covers ~3/4 of the circumference. I have been trying to search for rubber coated spring steel manufacturers but all my google results keep coming back with automotive springs or compression/expansion/torsion springs that are coated with (metallic) plating's. Does anyone know a company that makes such a thing?

 

[geesaman.d]

Will the rubber be in direct compression, and if so, will it have enough strength and adhesion?

I think generally that's why spring makers don't rubber coat - spring steels are wildly strong and rubber coatings are widely not. They aren't a reasonable match for most situations.

Seems to me this would involve sending some springs to a rubber coater.

 

[SwimTsunami2]

Thanks, geesaman.d, the rubber will be in compression on the side between the spring and the pipe. It will be a mostly static stress, the spring won't be opening and closing repeatedly. You are probably right in that I will have to get springs made and then send them independently to a rubber coater.

 

[EdStainless]

Since you don't have the wear on the back side have you thought of using a mechanical clamping arrangement?
The other option is to armor the pipe with a more abrasion resistant metal.
Something like 201LN SS or a high Mn steel come to mind.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[SwimTsunami2]

Thanks for the response EdStainless. We do get wear on the back side, fairly frequently as the glued-on rubber wears out. I am not sure if the rubber is prone to catastrophic failure or if operator inattention leads to eventual failure when they don't do the proper pm by replacing the rubber. I have thought of replacing the backside of the pipe with a removable section that would be clamped in place, I'm just not sure how tight a seal can be achieved. I will have to look at that more. the rubber has actually shown us more durability than hard materials. The mechanism for this appears to be the sand bounces off instead of scraping the base away, so the rubber has a fairly long life but when it fails the pipe fails quickly. The pipe needs to be weldable and magnetic, but yeah, maybe a harder steel will give us just enough time to find the issue before the pipe leaks.

 

[EdStainless]

Glad to hear that you looking at options.
Abrasion is a real complex subject.
The abrasive, velocity, angle of impingement, as well as the base material.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed