Anti-Chafe, Wear & Structural Interface

A sacrificial low-friction barrier matched to the edge it fights. PTFE-coated fiberglass tape (the 6085 series) takes aggressive, sharp-edge abrasion with a tough woven body; UHMW tape (6311 class) gives the lowest friction on long, smooth rub lines; pressed felt lines clamps where preload is high; and aramid paper joins where the wrap also needs dielectric or flame documentation.

The selection is pair-first: jacket material, edge condition, and motion type pick the liner, and deburring the offending edge where the drawing allows extends any liner's life more than upgrading it.

Tape adhesion and gauge are per ASTM D3330 / D3652 on the TDS. [7]

Carbon is electrically conductive and noble; aluminum is active. Bolt them together, add moisture, and the joint becomes a galvanic cell with the aluminum as the consumable anode: the MIL-STD-889 framing treats carbon-to-aluminum as one of the most active pairs on an airframe.

Prevention is a continuous isolating barrier: skived PTFE film or a glass-epoxy laminate strip across the entire faying surface, fastener isolation coordinated with the program's system, drainage so the joint dries, and barrier coverage inspected on its own interval, because a worn-through liner is a hidden anode.

The corrosion-control authority is the program's; the converter ships the barrier to the joint. [1]

Both are glass-fabric epoxy laminates in the NEMA LI 1 vocabulary; FR-4 adds the flame-retardant formulation, with UL 94 entries on the rated grades' TDS. Mechanically and dielectrically they are siblings: high compressive strength, dielectric strength per ASTM D149 / IEC 6024x-class methods, and stable behavior under bolt preload.

Spec FR-4-class (the NP510A and UPM entries here) where the location carries any flammability callout, which on aircraft is most places; the broader Durostone series covers the structural-dielectric duty per its TDS.

The honest answer for an aircraft interior or bay is usually the FR grade, and the cost delta rarely justifies the review conversation the unrated grade invites. [2]

Thick enough that the inspection interval, not the material, decides replacement. Thickness is the wear budget: estimate the wear per cycle from the traffic (or from the wear scar on the part being replaced), multiply across the interval with margin, and spec that thickness plus the attachment that survives it, which for thick strips means mechanical fastening with counterbored holes rather than adhesive alone.

The false economy is the thinnest sheet that fits: it wears through mid-interval and converts a line-item replacement into a structural repair. Send the replacement interval and the traffic description with the drawing; the thickness and hole pattern come back sized. [9]

Not for long. Fluoropolymers and polyethylenes creep under sustained compression: the pad slowly thins, the preload relaxes, and the joint loosens on a schedule that re-torquing only postpones. Where an interface carries bolt load, the load path belongs to a glass-epoxy laminate (Durostone, NP510-class) whose compressive behavior holds per its TDS, and the low-friction member moves to a non-structural face or a captured groove that bounds its creep.

The one-line drawing note "spacer carries bolt load: yes / no" routes the material correctly at quote and prevents the most common structural-interface callback we see. [8]

A cushioned liner that tolerates being squeezed, plus a correctly preloaded clamp. Fretting amplitudes are tiny and relentless, and the counterintuitive truth is that a loose clamp frets faster than a tight one: the liner's job is to distribute the preload and absorb the micro-motion, not to substitute for clamp torque. SAE pressed felt is the classic saddle liner (high preload tolerance, contamination-shrugging); thin skived PTFE wraps tight geometries; UHMW takes the cases where actual sliding dominates.

Where the clamp and line are dissimilar metals, the liner doubles as the galvanic break in the MIL-STD-889 framing, so its coverage must outlast the wear interval.

When the contact fights back. Plain skived film (6113, DW2000 class) is the thinner, cheaper, more conformable barrier for faying surfaces, tight wraps, and benign rubs; its weakness is mechanical abuse, because a thin film against a sharp edge or heavy bundle abrades through. The 6085 PTFE-fiberglass construction puts the same low-friction chemistry on a woven glass body that takes cutting, gouging, and heavy point loads, and it holds its temperature standing from both constituents.

Rule of thumb: barriers and wraps take the film; saddles, sharp pass-throughs, and armored chafe points take the fabric; and the price delta buys exactly that toughness. [3]

Interior and cabin-adjacent placements should expect the question. The interior-materials context reaches liners, fills, and pads the same way it reaches trim, and the program will ask what data stands behind each converted part. The families here answer differently: FR-4-class laminates carry UL 94 entries, aramid paper is inherently flame-resistant per its TDS, rated XLPE grades carry their entries, while plain UHMW and felt mostly do not, which is fine in many bays and a review item in the cabin.

The clause logic lives on the FST materials page; flag interior placements on the RFQ and the grade selection accounts for it from the start.

Yes. Glass-epoxy plates route to waterjet, which cuts the laminates clean without delamination or heat-affected edges, holds hole-pattern positions to drawing, and handles the thickness range the Durostone and NP510-class sheets come in. Parts ship deburred and flat-checked, with edge sealing per the drawing where wet bays demand it. Thin liner films and tapes route to die and CNC knife; thick UHMW to waterjet or machining. Send the tolerance block with the drawing; we quote the cutting method that meets it and say which one we picked.

Match the attachment to the motion and the replacement plan. PSA backing works for fretting-class duty and protected locations, with the honest caveat that low-energy surfaces (UHMW, PTFE) limit which adhesives bond to the liner's back, a converting problem solved with the right PSA system at lamination. Sliding service and thick wear strips want mechanical attachment: countersunk or counterbored fasteners that stay below the wear surface, sized so the strip is replaceable without rework.

Edges matter either way: radiused, sealed edges resist peel and moisture ingress. Specify the replacement interval and the attachment answer falls out of it.

Yes, within the converter's lane. Send the worn part or a tracing: we measure the geometry (including the unworn witness areas that preserve original thickness), identify the material class against the TDS libraries we convert, and quote a made-to-order replacement, often with the improvements the wear pattern suggests, thicker section where it wore, a radiused edge where it peeled, mechanical attachment where adhesive failed.

Material conformity documentation ships with the parts; the decision that the replacement is acceptable on the aircraft remains with the operator's or MRO's engineering authority. The wear scar is data: send a photo of it with the RFQ.

No. H-O Products is an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization that and converts isolation and wear materials; the MIL-STD-889 references on this page are qualitative framing for why dissimilar stacks need barriers, not a compliance claim. Corrosion-control design authority, finish systems, and fastener isolation schemes belong to the program and its corrosion engineers.

What we contribute is the converted barrier exactly as designed: continuous coverage to the faying surface with the fastener pattern included, materials whose dielectric and chemical data is on the TDS we ship, and lot-coded traceability so the joint's paperwork survives its next audit. [1]

H-O is a die-cutter and converter, so every liner, strip, spacer, and fill is made-to-order to your drawing, including samples. We maintain working material relationships with the UHMW, PTFE, laminate, and felt makers and keep common stocks on hand for faster turnaround.

Samples typically ship in 3–5 business days for common configurations on materials we keep on hand. Standard production runs ship about 2 weeks after drawing approval, including waterjet-cut laminate plates and kitted wear sets. Expedited service is available when a check date or AOG is real. MOQ varies by material and part; prototype quantities through production runs are equally accepted. Send the drawing and quantity through the form below for a specific commitment with your quote.