How to Select Wire Guides

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Wear Resistance is a Function of Hardness + Toughness

          One often-asked question is “How do I select wire guides that will last?”

          Many properties need to be taken into consideration.  The foremost criteria are:

              1.     Hardness
              2.     Finish
              3.     Toughness

The first two are familiar to many; the third is lesser known. Toughness (Fracture Toughness) is the measure of a material's resistance to the propagation of a crack in the material. Only in recent years has toughness been taken into account when interpreting wear phenomena, and it is expected to carry additional weight in the future as recognition of its importance grows.

Article "Selecting Wire Guides"

The article Selecting Wire Guides, written by an associate of COSMOS, first appeared in 1995 in Coil Winding International Magazine (Volume 18, Issue 2), calling attention to the role of Fracture Toughness in the selecting process of wire guides.  The article was updated in February 2007 in light of the tribological data accumulated over the years from wear tests, which we routinely implement for assessing wear resistance in the materials we choose for wire guides.  The article tentatively concludes that Fracture Toughness should always be considered hand in hand with Hardness when selecting wire guides.

          To view the article, please see Selecting Wire Guides, Revised


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