Volume 8, Number 2     March/April 2000

Technology Transfer

NASA Technology Increases Faucet Finish Life

Assistance from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, enabled Moen Incorporated, an Ohio-based manufacturer of plumbing products, to launch its new polished brass finish in 1997. Moen avoided significant costs by using NASA assistance and data, allowing it to introduce its new product at a critical time in the industry’s history.

Moen is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of residential and commercial plumbing products. Several years ago, the company identified a market need for more durable polished brass kitchen faucets. Prior to this, Moen did not use polished brass for kitchen faucets because of the finish’s short lifetime. Unlike chrome, polished brass is soft, corrodes easily and is relatively expensive.

Because market demands were outpacing technical development, Moen began a search to identify technologies with the potential to create a brass finish as durable as chrome at an affordable cost. To assist in evaluating the candidate finishes, Moen needed a partner knowledgeable in emerging technologies for surface modification.

Glenn’s Electro-Physics Branch is a leader in the development of technology using ion-beam vacuum deposition to enhance the physical properties of a wide range of materials and to deposit protective coatings on a variety of substrates. The center’s proximity to Moen, in addition to the branch’s knowledge of the coating and finishing industry, made Glenn very attractive to Moen. Glenn began working to identify, deposit and evaluate abrasion and corrosion-resistant coatings on flat coupons of interest to Moen.

Researchers helped Moen evaluate technologies and visualize the transition from lab scale to commercial production, thus avoiding some dead ends that could have slowed down or derailed the project. GRC provided input at several key points in the development process to direct the search for the commercial coating process.

"NASA assistance helped our company increase market share at a time when competitors were knocking at the door," said Tim O’Brien, vice president of technology for Moen and its sister companies. "I look at it this way: Moen built an engine internally, but we needed a turbocharger for the engine. That’s what we got. They provided rapid-fire follow-through and were excellent filters through which to view technologies and evaluate limits. We avoided significant research costs and delays," O’Brien concluded.

The Electro-Physics Branch at Glenn develops power materials and surfaces that are both high performance and environmentally durable. The branch also develops low-temperature electronic components to meet NASA, national and U.S. industrial needs.

For more information, contact Bruce Banks at Glenn Research Center. 216/433-2308, Bruce.A.Banks@grc.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.