IRMCO offers lubricant testing program

IRMCO®, Evanston, Ill., has announced the development of IRMCO iTool™, a lubricant testing process evolved from the cup drawing process originally developed at the Ohio State University Center for Precision Forming by Dr. Taylan Altan.

Using blanked materials supplied by the customer, the company can compare multiple lubricants on multiple substrates under the same, controlled process—before interrupting actual production for field trials. The process collects data on frictional forces, part measurements, and deformation temperatures. This helps eliminate the trial-and-error guesswork by presenting data that has a stronger correlation to production than laboratory-based frictional testing, since an actual part is formed in the process.