Chapter 6

BEARING MATERIALS
Selection criteria for a bearing material
The selection of the bearing material for a particular application depends on

(1) The type of bearing (journal, thrust, ball, etc.),

(2) The type of lubricant (grease, oil, water, gas, etc.), and

(3) The environmental conditions (temperature, pressure, etc.).

No single material has been developed that can satisfy all the requirements of a good
bearing material. Therefore, the selection must be made on the basis of the characteristics
considered of primary importance in the application.

Desirable Properties of Bearing Materials

1. Compatibility: - The shaft and bearing materials during rubbing condition should not produce
localized welds leading to scoring or seizure. This may results in scoring damage to both the
shaft and bearing materials. The ability of these material combinations to resist welding and
scoring is a measure of their compatibility. A good bearing-shaft metal combination is necessary.

2. Embeddability: - It is the ability of a material to embed dirt and foreign particles to prevent
scoring and wear. This property of the bearing materials reduces three-body abrasion. In the
operation of bearings dirt or other foreign debris is carried into the bearing clearance by the
lubricant and by the rotation of the shaft. If this dirt cannot be embedded in the bearing material,
scoring damage results. The ability to embed or absorb this dirt determines the embeddability
characteristic of the bearing material. Materials with high hardness values have poor
embeddability characteristics.

3. Conformability: -It is the ability of a bearing to move, shift, conform to variations in shaft
alignment, and adjust to imperfections in the surface of the journal. Usually, a soft metal is
placed over hard steel. This lets the bearing conform to the defects in the journal. The term
conformability is a measure of the ability of the bearing material to conform to misalignment
between the shaft and the bearing or to other geometric inaccuracies produced in manufacturing
the parts. Usually, bearing materials having a low modulus of elasticity are readily conformable.

4. Corrosion resistance: - The bearing material should be resistant to attack by the lubricant or
any of the oxidation products produced during lubricant degradation. For example, lubricating
oils without oxidation inhibitors produce organic acids, which attack and corrode certain bearing
materials. The selection of materials for use with water as the lubricant is limited to corrosion-
resistant materials.

5. Fatigue resistance: -High fatigue resistance is necessary in applications in which the load
changes direction or in which the load intensity varies cyclically. Fatigue failures appear initially
as cracks in the bearing surface. These cracks propagate throughout the bearing material,
interconnecting with other cracks and resulting in loose pieces of bearing material. Fatigue
strength is particularly important where cyclic loading is present.

6. Dimensional and Thermal Stability: - The thermal characteristics of the bearing material are
important with regard to both heat dissipation and thermal distortion. The thermal conductivity
of the bearing material should be high to ensure maximum dissipation of the frictional heat
generated.

7. Compression Strength: -It is the ability of the bearing material to resist pressure without
plastic deformation or disintegration is called compressive strength. The compressive strength of
the bearing material should increase proportionately with load per unit area of the bearing.

8. Low coefficient of friction- The material combinations of sliding surfaces, along with the
lubricant should provide a low friction coefficient for reducing damage and lower running costs.

9. Wettability- It is an affinity for lubricants so that they adhere and spread to form a protective
film over the bearing surface.

10. Relative hardness- The bearing material should usually be softer than that of the journal to
prevent shaft wear but hard enough to resist adhesive and abrasive wear of its own surface.
Bearings are more easy to replace than shafts (that require dismantling of the whole engine). If
one bearing is worn out only that bearing needs replacement instead of the whole shaft.

11. Availability- The material should be readily and sufficiently available, not only for initial
installation but also to facilitate replacement in the event of bearing failure

12. Cost- The economic consideration is the ultimate deciding factor in selecting a bearing
material

Bearing Materials: -
Bearing materials for conformal surfaces fall into two major categories:

1. Metallics: babbitts, bronzes, aluminum alloys, porous metals, and metal overlays such
as silver, babbitts, and indium

2. Nonmetallics: plastics, rubber, carbon-graphite, wood, ceramics, cemented carbides,

metal oxides (e.g., aluminum oxide), and glass.

1. Metallics
(i) Tin- and Lead-Base Alloys

The babbitts are among the most widely used materials for hydrodynamically lubricated
bearings. Babbitts are either tin or lead-base alloys having excellent embeddability and
conformability characteristics. They are unsurpassed in compatibility and thus prevent shaft
scoring.

Tin- and lead-base babbitts have relatively low load-carrying capacity. This capacity is increased
by metallurgically bonding these alloys to stronger backing materials such as steel, cast iron, or
bronze. Babbitt linings are either still cast or centrifugally cast onto the backing material. Fatigue
strength is increased by decreasing the thickness of the babbitt lining.

(ii) Copper-Lead Alloys

Two alloys, one consisting of 60% copper and 40% lead and the other of 70% copper and
30% lead, or slight variations, are used as lining materials on steel-backed bearings. These alloys
are either strip cast or sintered onto the backing strip, thus providing a bearing with a higher
load-carrying capacity than one lined with the babbitt alloys. They also have higher fatigue
resistance and can operate at higher temperatures, but they have poor antiseizure properties.
They are used in automotive and aircraft internal combustion engines and in diesel engines.
Their high lead content provides a good bearing surface but makes them susceptible to corrosion.
Their corrosion resistance and antiseizure properties are improved when they are used as trimetal
bearings with a lead-tin or lead-indium overlay electrodeposited onto the copper-lead surface.

(iii) Bronzes

Several bronze alloys, including lead, tin, and aluminum bronzes, are used extensively as
bearing materials. Because of their good structural properties, they can be used as cast bearings
without a steel backing. Bearings can also be machined from standard bar stock.

Lead bronzes, which contain up to 25% lead, provide higher load-carrying capacity and fatigue
resistance and a higher temperature capability than the babbitt alloys. Tin contents up to about
10% are used to improve the strength properties. Higher-lead bronze (70% copper, 5% tin, and
25% lead) can be used with soft shafts, but harder shafts (300 BHN) are recommended with the
harder lower-lead bronzes, particularly under conditions of sparse lubrication. Lead bronze
bearings are used in pumps, diesel engines, railroad cars, home appliances, and many other
applications. Tin bronzes, which contain 9 to 20% tin and small quantities of lead (usually <
1%), are harder than lead bronzes and are therefore used in heavier-duty applications.

(iv) Aluminum based alloys

The running properties not as good as copper based alloys but cheaper.

2. Nonmetallics
(i) Carbon Graphites

In addition to their excellent self-lubricating properties, carbon graphites have several

advantages over conventional materials and lubricants. They can withstand temperatures of
approximately 370°C in an oxidizing atmosphere such as air and can be used in inert
atmospheres to 700° C or at cryogenic temperatures. They can be used in equipment in which
lubricant contamination must be prevented, such as textile machinery and food-handling
machinery. Carbon graphites are highly resistant to chemical attack and are used in applications
where the chemicals attack conventional lubricants. They can be used with low-viscosity
lubricants, such as water, gasoline, or air.

Because of its low expansion coefficient of 2.7 × 106 mm/mm-°C, a carbon graphite liner
is shrunk-fit into a steel sleeve. The steel backing provides mechanical support, improves heat
transfer, and helps to maintain shaft clearance. The mating shaft should be made of harder
metals. Chromium plates, hardened tool steels, or even some ceramics are used.

A PV value of 15,000 is used when lubricant is present. Depending on the material grade
and the application, friction coefficients ranging from 0.04 to 0.25 are obtainable. Absorbed
water vapor enhances fiim formation and reduces the friction and wear of carbon graphite. With
no water vapor present (low humidity), wear increases. In general, low speeds and light loads
should be used in nonlubricated applications.

Table 1: Limits of application of nonmetallic bearing materials

(ii) Phenolics

Among several types of plastic bearings presently in use are the phenolics. These are in
the form of laminated phenolics, made by treating sheets of either paper or fabric with phenolic
resin, stacking the desired number of sheets, and curing with heat and pressure to bond them
together and set the resin. Other filling materials, such as graphite and molybdenum disulfide,
are added in powdered form to improve lubrication qualities and strength.

Figure 1 Phenolic laminate bearings (a) Tubular bearing (b) Circumferentially laminated
bearing (c) Axially laminated bearing (d) Stave bearing (e) Molded bearing.
 Figure 1 shows the various orientations of the phenolic laminates used in bearings.
Tubular bearings (Figure la) are used where complete bushings are required. Bearings in which
the load is taken by the edges of the laminations (Figure 1b and c) are used in light-duty service.
Stave bearings (Figire 1d) are used mainly for stern-tube and rudder-stock bearings on ships and
for guide bearings on vertical waterwheel turbines. Molded bearings (Figure 1e) are used for
roll-neck bearings in steel mills or for ball-mill bearings.

Laminated phenolics operate welt with steel or bronze journals when lubricated with oil,
water, or other liquids. They have good resistance to seizure. One main disadvantage of these
materials is their low thermal conductivity (0.35 W/m-°C, about 1/150 that of steel), which
prevents them from dissipating frictional heat readily and can result in their failure by charring.
In large roll-neck bearings the heat is removed by providing a large water flow through the
bearing.

Laminated phenolics have good resistance to chemical attack and can be used with water,
oil, diluted acid, and alkali solutions. They have good conformability, having an elastic modulus
of 3.45 to 6.90 GPa, in comparison with about 3.45 GPa for babbitts. Laminated phenolics also
have a high degree of embeddability. This property is advantageous in ship stern-tube bearings,
which are lubricated by water that contains sand and other sediment. Because of their good
resilience, they are highly resistant to damage by fatigue and shock loading. They do not hammer
out or extrude under shock loading as do some babbitt alloys. Because laminated phenolics are
made up of organic fibers that absorb certain liquids and expand, small changes in dimensions
can occur. Water or lubricants containing water have a greater measurable effect on the
dimensional stability of phenolics than do oils. Expansion is greater perpendicular to the
laminations (2 to 3%) than parallel (0 to 0.3 percent).

(iii) Nylon

Nylon is one of the classes of thermoplastic materials, as differentiated from the

thermosetting plastics, the phenolics. Nylon bearings can be molded, or nylon powders can be
sintered in a manner similar to the manufacture of porous metals. Nylon is not affected by
petroleum oils and greases, food acids, milk, photographic solutions, etc., and thus can be used in
applications where these fluids are handled.

Nylon has good abrasion resistance, a low wear rate, and good embeddability. Like most
plastics, it has good antiseizure properties and softens or chars rather than seizing. It has low
thermal conductivity (0.24 W/m-°C), and failure is usually the result of overheating. Cold flow
(creep) under load is one of its main disadvantages. This effect can be minimized by supporting
thin nylon liners in metal sleeves. Nylon bearings are used in household applications such as
mixers and blenders and for other lightly loaded applications.

(iv) Teflon

Teflon is a thermoplastic material based on the polymer polytetraftuoroethylene (PTFE),

which has a low friction coefficient. It has excellent self-lubricating properties and in many
applications can be used dry. It is resistant to chemical attack by many solvents and chemicals
and can be used in the temperature range -260 to 260°C. Like nylon, it has a tendency to cold-
form under loads. Teflon in its unmodified form also has the disadvantages of low stiffness, a
high thermal expansion coefficient, low thermal conductivity, and poor wear resistance. These
poor properties are greatly improved by adding fibers such as glass, ceramics, metal powders,
metal oxides, graphite, or molybdenum disulphide.