Founded in 1966, Tiodize has been perfecting their products to help their customers prevent friction, wear and corrosion of equipment in a variety of industries, including the aviation sector. Since its inception, Tiodize has grown with the aviation industry, offering new products and improving on their existing items as aviation equipment evolves. After years of constant research, meticulous tinkering and development, Tiodize's family of 1,400 Degree Fahrenheit Anti-Seize lubricants offer an effective way to prevent galling and seizing of fasteners used in jet engines.
Thomas Adams, president of Tiodize, founded the company in 1966 to focus on developing and manufacturing of coatings to improve friction and corrosion on metal products.
In 1988, Tiodize was asked by the United States Air Force to develop a lubricant to replace silver on fasteners used in jet engines. Silver, when exposed to high temperatures, can cause the fasteners to crack, which prompted the United States Air Force to request a solution from Tiodize.
The product, called 614-7E, took 10 years of careful study and development before Tiodize released it to the public. Tiodize would continue improving on the product, later releasing another version named 614-T9B. It was approved by G.E., Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney and Safran, which led to its wide use on aircraft engines. But the innovation doesn’t stop there.
As aviation continued to develop, newer jet engines started operating at higher temperatures. This meant MRO repair facilities had to find a replacement for their old graphite grease.
Therefore, Tiodize continued to improve on their existing product line, creating yet another family of lubricants.
In an effort to develop the new product, Tiodize took the pigments from their 614-T9B product, removed the binder and added engine oil to form a grease. Thus, the 1,400 Degree Anti-Seize Grease — composed of the T8E-Paste, T8E-G Light Grease and T8E-H Grease products — was created.
These three anti-seize products are specifically manufactured to help MRO repair facilities remove fasteners without the hassle of fasteners galling and breaking during the removal.
According to Adams, the “primary function is to prevent seizing of threaded fasteners after exposure to temperatures of 1,000 degrees to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.” These products are superior to other lubricants because their “high temperature capabilities offer a unique combination of performance benefits not available with other solid film lubricants,” said Adams.
T8E-Paste
The T8E-Paste is a water-based product. Companies like Pratt & Whitney use T8E-Paste on bolts installed in blind areas.
T8E-G Light Grease
The T8E-G Light Grease is suspended in 7808 engine oil. The engine oil suspension increases the shelf life of the product and allows for easy application. This product was designed for MRO stations located in hot areas; in grease form, the product has a longer shelf life in the container than it would as a paste. “When we were told all MRO repair stations had to use T8E Paste, we felt we had to make it into a grease,” Adams said. “We felt the water would evaporate in hot conditions and shorten the storage life. Thus, we made the paste into grease.”
T8E-H Grease
The T8E-H Grease is heavier than the other members of the product line. It was made to replace petrolatum grease (GE Spec A50TF201), particularly for use at temperatures up to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
When any threaded high-temperature fastener is removed during maintenance, the T8E-H Grease is applied to the fasteners before reinstalling the fastener to the engine.
“This enables that fastener to be removed easily at the next maintenance, rather than freezing up, becoming stuck and requiring it to be drilled out — broken — to remove,” Adams commented.
Though the products do have their differences, all three of them are made with the same unique inorganic pigments. These lubricants do not contain any metallics or sulfur-producing materials, “which are not allowed on jet engines,” mentioned Adams.
History in the Making
In 1963, Adams was honorably discharged from the Army after being drafted into the Vietnam War. He accepted a position as a sales engineer with an aircraft fastener before launching his own company. Since 1966, Adams has seen his company grow from a one-man business to an operation that employs over 75 employees.
Adams started the company with a patented product named the Tiodize process for titanium. According to Adams, “the Tiodize Process is an anodize of titanium that has no dimensional change and reduces the friction of titanium.” This prevents galling when in contact with another metal. Later, as the company grew, it would expand its range of products, launching into the solid film lubricants, corrosion coatings and composites Tiodize sells today.
Tiodize-developed products are not only used in the aviation industry, they’re used in other sectors as well. Their products are used on race cars, bone implants, space vehicles, submarines and even in hand sanitizer products, to name a few.
Looking to the Future
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on businesses across the world, especially those in the aviation sector. With the onset of COVID-19, Tiodize has had to do more research in other areas, like the space and medical industries. Due to the imminent growth of the space and medical industries, Tiodize feels confident that there will be future growth for the company in 2021 and beyond.
Space programs, like the Artemis Program, are requiring new developments of different types of products. The Artemis Program is an effort by NASA to land the first woman and another man on the moon by 2024. New technology is needed to explore parts of the lunar surface that have not been reached before. “It has helped us develop new emissivity coatings, such as our K2V and IR Black anodize,” said Adams.
Additionally, as inorganic coatings are becoming more popular, Tiodize has also developed new dry film lubricants to be used in space, such as their 1175-FX20 and X40X.
Though Adams built the company from the ground-up, he says Tiodize's success is due to the people he employs. “Success has come because of the dedicated people working for Tiodize. They do quality work, or they don’t do it at all.”
