Engineered Surface Tubing
- Accelerate Your Prototyping
- Fast
- Easy
- Free
Accelerate your production with Zeus engineered surface tubing. When Zeus scientists engineered a process to increase lubricity while decreasing drag force through micro-structured channels, or “reeds,” we immediately thought the applications could be exponential in many industries. We have seen success as customers from industries such as automotive, aerospace, fiber optics, semiconductors, and oil and gas have eagerly explored uses for this exciting technology.
The “reeds” created by our manufacturing process on the outside of this tubing lower the coefficient of friction by reducing surface contact area. Without additives or fillers, our engineered surface process enhances the lubricity on either the inner or outer (or both) surfaces. Zeus can apply engineered surface on a range of high-performance extruded products, including PTFE, PEEK, FEP, PFA, PVDF, ETFE, and Nylon.
Wire, cable, and fiber optics industries routinely assemble bundles, often with tacky but necessary sheathing, making them difficult to maneuver. These bundles also frequently need to be pushed down long sections of tubing to shield them from temperature extremes, moisture, and aggressive chemicals. Our engineered surface tubing provides an excellent vehicle to accomplish this and many similar tasks, saving production and lead times, which translates into cost savings.
Independent testing found that Zeus PEEK engineered surface tubing was up to 42 percent more lubricious than standard PEEK tubing1. Zeus engineers didn’t sacrifice the performance characteristics of PEEK to achieve this improved lubricity.
1Disclaimer: The repeatability of tests on the same material will depend upon material homogeneity, machine, and material interaction. It is important to note that friction is a system property; therefore, comparing this data to the data obtained from other sources should be done with caution. Per ASTM G115, friction coefficients of material couples obtained on one type of test apparatus may be significantly different from coefficients of the same material couples tested on a different apparatus.
Contact our team or call toll-free in the US 1-800-526-3842 or +1-803-268-9500 internationally to speak with our technical staff about how our Engineered Surface products are right for you.
- APPLICATIONS
Custom Profile Slot Liners – For motor building and insulation, our engineered surface tubing presents an excellent opportunity to design your own matched slot liner to ease assembly and improve motor performance.
Push/ Pull Cables for Automotive and Aerospace – Particularly beneficial for wire harness construction, or where wiring may need to be forced through confined spaces, Zeus engineered surface tubing is an ideal choice. Our products help speed these operations and reduce time lost wrestling with wire bundles and complicated installations.
Sheathing for Fiber Optics – Our high-temperature polymer coating and sheathing goes above and beyond, offering a wide range of diameters and types. Our sheathing imparts not only mechanical strength, but also a highly lubricious and durable surface.
- KEY PROPERTIES
No Additives or Fillers to Leech – Our engineered surface process creates tubing that is lubricious by nature. Thus, our tubing does not require the addition of fillers or other additives that could potentially leech out over time and into the surrounding environment.
High Lubricity – By reducing the contact area between two surfaces, such as between the tubing wall and an adjacent surface, friction between the two surfaces is also dramatically reduced, creating a highly lubricious interface.
Strain-Free Movement – Whether for delicate fiber optic cables, medical instruments such as catheters, or heavy wiring, our engineered surface tubing’s highly lubricious nature greatly increases pushability of these items without adding strain. This quality is highly desirable when feeding cables and wiring through extended spaces, tubing, or conduit.