Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018

SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, INC.

Two Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, N. Y. 10001

Performance Characteristics of
the General Motors
Aluminum-Babbitt
Bearing Material

J. C. Blerlein, A. 0 . DeHart, and R. C. Rosenberg

General Motors Research Laboratories

A. W. Rike
Delco Moraine Div., General Motors Corp.

SOCIETY OF A U T O M O T I V E E N G I N E E R S

International Automotive Engineering Congress

Detroit, Mich. 690113
January 13-17, 1969
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Performance Characteristics of
J. C. Bierlein, A. 0. DeHart, and R. C. Rosenberg
MODERN-DAY AUTOMOTIVE SLEEVE BEARINGS do an
amazing job! They will carry large loads in a trouble-
free manner for a long t i m e . They can absorb the punish-
ment of dirty oil, poor quality journals, edge loading, and
a host of similar evils that can cause nightmares for those
charged with the responsibility for bearing durability.
Why, then, develop another bearing material? The most
obvious need is an economic one. These bearings that will
do so many fine jobs are more expensive than the bi-metal
type bearing which is typified by babbitt-on-steel. If the
line-up of bearings which General Motors manufactures for
automobiles are examined on the basis of performance (see
Fig. 1) it becomes immediately obvious that there is a gap
in the performance line. On the one hand, the SAE 16 bear-
ing is designed for applications in engines with low-to -
intermediate bearing performance requirements. It is r e -
markable in its ability to absorb and embed dirt, and it has
excellent score resistance and conformability. However,
it will not carry as much load as a heavy-duty bearing. On
ABSTRACT
A new aluminum alloy bearing material containing lead--
base babbitt is described. This material provides the per-
formance advantages of an overplated babbitt construction
without requiring the plating procedure. Performance char-
690113
the General Motors
Aluminum-Babbitt
Bearing Material
General Motors Research Laboratories
A. W. Rike
Delco Moraine Div., General Motors Corp.
the other hand, bearings of SAE 781 + 19 and the same m a -
terial with special strengthening treatment are designed for
heavy -duty use. These heavy duty bearings, which are an alu -
minum alloy with a thin babbitt-like material electroplated
onto the steel-backed aluminum surface, were developed
for engines requiring high and very high bearing performance.
An engine manufacturer is then faced with a problem when
he is selecting bearings for engines with intermediate bear-
ing performance requirements. He can choose the SAE 16
bearing and have the possibility of insufficient bearing dur-
ability due to overload, or he may choose bearings developed
for high or very high performance engines. In all probability,
if he selects the heavy-duty bearing he will pay a premium
price. It appears, then, that a bearing of intermediate per-
formance will be attractive for use in engines with inter-
mediate requirements; particularly, if there are some econ-
omies to be made with this selection. The bearing having
the qualities to fill this performance gap has come to be
called the "intermediate bearing." There is a need for a
acteristics including fatigue, wear, score, and corrosion r e -
sistances and embedability are compared to standard SAE
bearing materials on the basis of laboratory tests. Extensive
engine dynamometer and vehicle field tests are described
to show the excellent durability of this new material.
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
LEAD RELATIVE PERFORMANCE IS DETERMINED
FROM CONSIDERATION OF THE
BASE
FOLLOWING PARAMETERS:
SAE 16 [ V
FATIGUE RESISTANCE
WEAR RESISTANCE
V A
K% EMBEDABILITY
SCORE RESISTANCE
CORROSION RESISTANCE
GAP WITH FATIGUE RESISTANCE BEING THE
MAJOR FACTOR.
ALUMINUM
SAE 781 + 19
u\
BASE
STRENGTHENED SAE 781 + 19
■+• ■+■ -H -I-
1 2 3 4 5 materials manufactured by General Motors
RELATIVE BEARING PERFORMANCE
bearing material with performance approaching that of a
heavy-duty bearing, but with some economy over the heavy-
duty bearing.
CHALLENGES OF MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT
When a program is being organized for developing a new
bearing material, one is faced rather abruptly with the real
lack of variety of basic materials from which to start con-
struction of the new bearing. This is particularly true for
highly loaded engine bearings, where the composite bearing
has become the standard way to support the high cyclical
loads of automotive engines. And whatever bearing m a -
terial is selected, it must be bondable to steel. The com-
posite bearing insert makes use of the high strength of the
steel back to which the weaker, more compliant bearing
material is bonded. Often, an additional thinner coating
of babbitt-like material is electrodeposited onto the bear-
ing material. In many cases, with the copper-lead, aluminum,
or silver bearing, the journal in reality, is running on a thin
layer of electrodeposited babbitt-like material with the ex-
pectation that the electrodeposited layer will remain intact
throughout most of the useful life of the engine. Indeed, the so-
called "bearing material" may not contact the crankshaft.
The bi-metal bearings of tin base and lead base babbitts
have done a good job for the automotive industry for many
years. It is well known (1)* that decreasing the thickness
of the babbitt layer on the steel back will enhance the load
capacity of these bi-metal bearings. However, the babbitt
must be maintained thick enough to accommodate the vari-
ation due to manufacturing tolerance and be thick enough
for the expected wear. These high thickness requirements
reduce the load capacity of bi-metal bearings, so that they
are no longer attractive for use in engines with intermediate
bearing requirements.
'Numbers in parentheses designate References at end of
paper.
Fig. 1 - Relative performance of bearing
Corp.
Copper-lead base bearing materials, both cast and sin-
tered, have been successfully used by many bearing manu-
facturers for low-to-intermediate and high performance ap-
plications. There is concern though with today's long oil
drain periods because of corrosion of copper-lead bearings.
(2) Tin may be added to lead to prevent corrosion from the
organic acids that may develop in the engine lubricating
oil. However, in the copper-lead bearing system, it is dif-
ficult to keep the tin associated with the lead because it
tends to migrate to the copper matrix. If more tin is added
to ensure sufficient corrosion resistance, the matrix material
can become so hard that wear often occurs on the soft jour-
nals typically used in the American automotive industry. (3)
While copper-lead bearings have given a good account
for themselves in today's automotive engines, our best e x -
perience has been with aluminum base materials. The SAE
781 + 19 bearing shows no problem with corrosion, and it
certainly shows its capability to handle high load situations
with good fatigue strength, good embedability, and excel-
lent anti-weld or anti-score properties. Consequently, it
seemed best to concentrate our material development effort
on a steel-backed aluminum alloy. Many years of evalua-
tion of aluminum alloy bearings show that with the electro -
deposited babbitt overplate, such bearings have a good r e c -
ord in high performance automotive engines. One of the
major expenses associated with the manufacture of this bear-
ing is that of plating the thin babbitt layer on top of the
aluminum. Reflection upon this observation soon led to the
idea of putting the babbitt into the aluminum alloy, rather
than on top of it. This was one way of eliminating the e x -
pense of plating. Also, wearing through the plated surface
would be eliminated. After making the decision to put the
babbitt into the aluminum, the question arose whether it
should be lead-base babbitt or tin-base babbitt. Based upon
the work of Roach (4), we were strongly convinced that lead
was the better choice of materials. This belief was further
augmented by evaluation made on our score test machine,
which showed that the tin addition to aluminum did not have
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018

the score resistance that we felt desirable. Now, lead in

aluminum for a bearing material is not new. Schlucter (5)
disclosed that small amounts of lead (up to 3%) in aluminum
had good score resistance. But there are well known prob-
lems with lead in aluminum. Hunsicker (6) states that the
limited liquid solubility of lead, and the susceptibility of
lead to the corrosion in acid containing lubricating oils
places a handicap on manufacture and serviceability for
aluminum-lead bearing materials. Despite this, we were
convinced that an aluminum alloy bearing material contain-
ing lead-base babbitt would be a good bearing material.
So, we requested that our Metallurgical Engineering De-
partment make samples of this material having up to 10%
babbitt, and they did. This accomplishment has led to the
development of the General Motors' aluminum-babbitt bear-
ing material.

GM ALUMINUM-BABBITT Fig. 2 - Surface of aluminum-babbitt bearing material

BEARING MATERIAL
Simply stated, the aluminum-babbitt bearing is a com-
posite bearing, being comprised of a steel back onto which
is bonded an aluminum alloy which contains lead-base
babbitt. The aluminum alloy is essentially SAE 781, while
the babbitt is SAE 19. The fine dispersion of the entrained
babbitt is shown in the photomicrograph of Fig. 2. The ef-
fective babbitt content of this aluminum-babbitt bearing
is nominally 8°Jo by weight. Also, the continuous aluminum
phase which gives rise to the high strength of the bearing
is evident. A microprobe analysis, seen in Fig. 3, reveals
that the tin is associated with the lead, so that corrosion
is minimized. Since the babbitt is contained in the alu-
minum alloy, no expensive overplate is required and there
is no overplate to wear off the bearing surface. Conse-
quently, whatever properties the bearing has initially are
maintained substantially throughout the bearing life.
PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS
The development of any new bearing material requires
the careful evaluation of its performance characteristics.
Experience gained through the development of several highly chine (CBTM) used by the General Motors Research Labora-
successful bearing materials in the past has resulted in a
comprehensive test program for the evaluation of any new
bearing material. Materials are first evaluated in several
controlled laboratory bench tests which separate specific
performance characteristics. Engine dynamometer tests
then subject the material to actual engine operating con-
ditions, while still emphasizing specific performance char- paratus (AFTA), various bearing materials can be severely
acteristics. Following the successful completion of these
tests, a large number of field test vehicles are used to ob- load, 11,270 lb; bearing diameter, 2.30 in.; bearing length,
tain extensive service data.
LABORATORY TESTS - The purpose of the Research
Laboratories test program was to evaluate new bearing ma-
terials without running full-scale engine tests. Bench tests than 10 ju in. A.A. surface roughness and to have less than
have been designed to evaluate the specific qualities r e - 36 /J in. peak-to-valley for lobing. A newly prepared jour-
quired in a modern engine bearing material. Basically
these tests involve the fatigue resistance, wear resistance,
embedability, score resistance, and corrosion resistance of
a material. Test results for several types of engine journal
bearing materials were obtained for comparison with the
new aluminum-babbitt material.
Fatigue Resistance - A primary consideration during the
development of a new bearing material must be its ability
to carry the high cyclic loads which occur in today's en-
gines. This ability is generally depicted by the material's
fatigue strength.
Bearing fatigue is usually characterized by fine cracks
in the bearing surface. These cracks will eventually pene-
trate the bearing material almost to the bonding surface.
They then travel just above, and relatively parallel to, the
bond surface until they intersect one another. When this
occurs, a small or even a large platelet can be removed
creating a cavity in the bearing surface. A bearing materi-
al must resist this type of crack propagation. Often, the
higher strength metallic materials have the greater resist-
ance to this type of fatigue d a m a g e .
Fatigue resistance of a bearing material can be evaluated
in a test machine, such as the Centrifugal Bearing Test Ma-
tories, which develops a sinusoidal load by a rotating e c -
centric weight (centrifugal force). The CBTM can be set
up to evaluate bearing fatigue resistance by the addition of
several pieces of apparatus, for example, crossed connecting
rods and heavier weights which develop higher loads. Using
the CBTM set-up with the Accelerated Fatigue Test Ap-
fatigued in a few hours. Pertinent details of the AFTA are:
0.750 in.; oil pressure, 30-50 psi; bearing back tempera-
ture, 325 F; shaft rotational speed, 4250 rpm; oil, a com-
mercial SAE 30; journal surface, controlled to have less
nal surface is used for each test.
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Fig. 3 - Results of a scanning electron microprobe study on aluminum-babbitt bearing material*. Photograph A repre-
sents negative sample current which gives a general view of an area containing babbitt. Photograph B shows distribu-
tion of lead (white) in this area. Photograph C shows that tin (white) is associated with lead and does not migrate to
the aluminum matrix (dark area). There is sufficient tin in the babbitt alloy to provide adequate corrosion resistance of
this bearing material

Table 1 - Fatigue Of Bearing Materials In The Accelerated

Fatigue Test Apparatus (AFTA)

Hours of
Test ~~~ ___TTest in AFTA After After After
Materia —-—-___ 3 hr 10 hr 30 hr

Lead
SAE 16 initiated fatigued
Base
Aluminum -b abb itt good fatigued
Aluminum-20% tin good fatigued
Aluminum
SAE 781 good fatigued
Base
SAE 781 + 19 good fatigued
Strengthened SAE 781 + 19 good good initiated
Copper SAE 485 distressed seized
Base SAE 49 + 19 good good initiated

SAE 781 + 19 was run a sufficient number of times to
establish the relative severity of this fatigue test. Six to
eight hours of operation were usually required to initiate fa-
tigue damage, that is, initiate visible fatigue cracks. An
additional 2-4 hr was required to cause the fatigue cracks to
propagate far enough to cause platelets of bearing material
to be removed. From these data, the fatigue test time was
standardized at 10 hr. Three and 30 hr tests were also run
to obtain a range of fatigue damage results.
Table 1 illustrates the bearing materials evaluated in
theAFTA. After completing a three hour test, allbuttwoof the
bearing materials tested were still free of any fatigue dam-
age. Fatigue cracks had been initiated in SAE 16, while
the SAE 485 varied from slight-to-extreme distress after
3 hr.
Only two bearing materials appeared undamaged after
10 hr, strengthened SAE 781 + 19 and SAE 49 + 19. All the
other materials had some fatigue damage, except SAE 485
which failed both times by seizing onto the journal. The
amount of fatigue damage for the aluminum-babbitt bear-
ing material, the aluminum-20% tin bearing material, the
SAE 781, and the SAE 781 + 19 was about the same. This
result could be anticipated since they are all aluminum
base alloys. Although the SAE 16 alloy showed the early
initiation of fatigue damage, the extent of fatigue damage
after 10 hr was less than the aluminum base alloys. One
explanation for this is that the SAE 16 was probably worn
away as fast as it was fatigued. This leads the bearing en-
gineer to another important property of bearing materials,
that is, wear resistance.
Wear Resistance - For any application, a bearing must
not wear out during the required useful life. In an engine,
this is of paramount importance, since a worn bearing r e -
sults in increased oil clearances which may precipitate a
lubrication and bearing malfunction with the resulting en-
gine bearing knock.
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018

LEAD
BASE SAE 16 W 1
I ALUMINUM - BABBI TT

ALUMINUM - 20% TIN

< ALUMINUM
\a BASE SAE 781 |
s
on SAE 781 + 19 |

| STRENGTHENED SAE 781 + 19

SAE 485 - FAILED TO COMPLETE TEST

.
COPPER >
BASE SAE 49 + 19 |
(-/
0.2 0.4 1.8 2.0 F i g . 4 - Results of 10 hr h i g h - l o a d
BEARING WEAR - THOUSANDTHS OF INCH b e a r i n g wear tests

Bearing wear is defined to e n c o m p a s s any r e d u c t i o n in

that was not cleaned from the engine parts and passageways
b e a r i n g thickness (thus increased o i l c l e a r a n c e s ) . P r i m a r i l y ,
during manufacture. "Accumulated dirt" may be road dust,
in these tests t h e r e d u c t i o n in b e a r i n g thickness is caused
metal fragments from engine parts, or any other foreign
by " m a c h i n i n g w e a r , " which is t h e " m a c h i n i n g " away of
matter that is accumulated in the engine during use. A
the bearing material by the asperities on the journal surface. large portion of this "dirt" is carried by the lubricating oil
Among the many factors which intensify the wearing process into the bearings where it is embedded into the bearing
are: journal asperities which are excessively high (high surface.
surface roughness), high load, and inadequate lubrication Therefore, bearings or bearing materials must have e m -
(for example, slow rotational speed, low viscosity). Another bedability, which is defined as the ability of a bearing to
way that bearing thickness is reduced is by extrusion or a embed dust, dirt, or other foreign particles below the sur-
"pounding away" of the bearing material. Also, in some face of the bearing so that they will no longer interact with
instances, corrosive wear is a major cause of bearing thick- the journal. Interaction with the journal includes wearing,
ness reduction. scoring, scratching, or any other damaging effect to the
The ability of a bearing material to resist wear is eval- journal surface due to the particles.
uated by operating under high load. This is done in the The CBTM was modified in another way by adding the
CBTM with the same test conditions as the AFTA test. The Bearing Embedability Test Apparatus (BETA). The primary
journal roughness is maintained within 6-10 u in. A.A. and modification was the addition of the test oil reservoir for
adequate lubrication of the bearing is ensured. the "dirty" oil. Pertinent details of the BETA were: load,
Fig. 4 displays the amount of bearing wear which o c - 5150 lb; bearings, same as in the AFTA; oil pressure, 30 psi;
curred in a 10 hr high load bearing wear test. It is readily oil sump temperature (both clean and test oils), 250 F; shaft
apparent that the babbitt base bearing material (SAE 16) rotational speed, 4150 rpm; oil, a commercial SAE 30;
exhibited excessive wear under this high load. The remain- journal surface, same as in the AFTA. In this test, the
ing materials had acceptable wear rates, except SAE 485 bearings were run on clean oil until they have reached a
which seized onto the journal before the 10 hr test was com- stabilized steady state condition. The "dirty" test oil was
pleted. The wear data on the aluminum base alloys closely then used to lubricate the test bearing (the clean oil supply
paralleled the fatigue data. Strengthened SAE 781 + 19 was was simultaneously shut off). The test oil was at the same
the best. From the remaining four aluminum base alloys, temperature and pressure as the clean oil. The only change
the aluminum-babbitt bearing material wore the least, while in operating conditions was the addition of suspended "dirt"
the aluminum-20% tin alloy had the most wear. The copper in the test oil. A radioactive tracer was used to verify the
base SAE 49 + 19 had about the same amount of wear as the uniformity of the suspension. Initial tests were run on the
aluminum-babbitt bearing material. BETA using 0.0002 weight percent "dirt" in the test oil.
Embedability - A bearing material that successfully r e - The "dirt" was primarily silica and alumina with the nomi-
sists fatigue and wear damage does not guarantee a success- nal particle diameter between 0.001-0.002 in. The pres-
ful bearing material. Bearings, at some period during their ence of "dirt" in the test oil caused the bearing to have
time of operation, will probably be required to operate in a sharp rises of short duration (several seconds) in the operat-
"dirty" environment. This can be "built-in dirt" in a new ing temperature (Fig. 5). The frequency of occurrence,
engine or "accumulated dirt" in a used engine. "Built-in magnitude and duration of the temperature "spikes"; the
dirt" may be molding sand, metal chips, or grinding dust reduction of the BETA shaft speed (rpm); and the change
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018

BASE LINE
TEMPERATURE ■
TEMPERATURE
"SPIKE"

MAGNITUDE

UUV-

Fig. 5 - Graphical definition of tem-

DURATION perature-time changes, showing var-
ious types of bearing distress which
occur during a bearing embedability
TIME- test (BETA)

LEAD
BASE SAE 16
NORMALIZED TO
< 60-MINUTE TEST

<
s ALUMINUM
ALUMINUM-BABBITT
3
ALUMINUM - 20% TIN |
'r BASE

SAE 7 8 1 + 1 9 i

Fig. 6 - Journal wear in Bearing 200 400 600 800

Embedability Test Apparatus (BETA) JOURNAL WEAR - MICROINCHES

in the base-line bearing operating temperature were the
indications of the bearing embedability during the test. After
the test, the measurement of bearing weight loss or gain,
bearing thickness loss or gain, and the amount of wear on
the journal surface were indications of the bearing embed-
ability. The failure of a bearing was either by seizure onto
the journal or a temperature "spike" in excess of the m a -
chine shutdown temperature (425 F).
Since bearing embedability is primarily based on the
amount of interaction of the embedded particle or particles
on the journal surface, the best criterion for evaluating e m -
bedability is to measure the amount of journal wear (Fig. 6).
Any soft babbitt bearing material, such as, SAE 16, should
have the best embedability of any bearing material. Of the
materials tested, it had the least journal wear. The alu-
minum-babbitt bearing materialhad almost three times as
much journal wear, while SAE 781 + 19 had almost four
times as much wear. However, the aluminum-20% tin bear-
ing material had over eight times as much journal wear as
the babbitt alloy, and about three times as much journal
wear as the aluminum-babbitt bearing material.
Score Resistance - An additional requirement of a bear-
ing material is its ability to withstand the intermittent m e -
tallic contact which occurs during periods of bearing over-
load. This type of contact is characterized by a hydrody-
namic film which is unable to support the applied load. If
the bearing material adheres or welds to the shaft during
these periods of metallic contact, excessive wear rates or
catastrophic seizure will occur. The ability of a material
to resist this type of welding is defined as score resistance.
The test for score resistance consisted of pressing a sample
of the bearing material, in the form of a slider bearing,
against the face of a rotating steel disk. The conditions of
operation (load, speed, and sample geometry) were chosen
to ensure operation in the mixed-film region. In this mixed-
film region, part of the load was carried by a hydrodynamic
film, while the remaining portion was carried by surface
contact.
The sample geometry was a 0.62 in. square slider bear-
ing oriented at 0.5 deg with the face of a 4.0 in. diameter
disk. Steel disks (SAE 1045, hardened to R "C" 34-36) were
used. Initial contact between the two surfaces occurred
along the trailing edge of the sample. The load on the
sample was increased at a uniform rate to a maximum of
1500 lb. A surface speed of 700 in./sec was used. Failure
was determined by either the sample temperature exceeding
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
LEAD
BASE SAE 16
ALUMINUM - BABBITT
ALUMINUM - 20% TIN
ALUMINUM
BASE
SAE 781
SAE 781 + 19
SAE 49 |
COPPER
BASE
SAE 49 + 19
400 800
FAILURE LOAD
400 F or the bearing friction exceeding a fixed value. A
stream of a low-viscosity, (1.63 cs at 100 F) hydrocarbon
fluid was used to provide the hydrodynamic film.
The performance of a material was then determined by
measuring the friction torque, sample temperature, and
maximum load capacity. This type of machine has been
used to develop several basic parameters regarding the se-
lection of bearing materials. (7) The results obtained on
this machine have shown excellent correlation with field
experience.
The surface roughness of the test disk was a major test
variable. As the surface roughness increased, the test load
for failure with a given material decreased. Because of
this effect, comparison between materials was made at an
equivalent surface roughness of 3 \i in. A.A.
Fig. 7 presents the test results for several types of engine
bearing materials. Babbitt-type materials showed the best
performance in this test. The lowest coefficients of friction
and the least surface damage were characteristic of this
class of materials. The overplated babbitt, SAE 19, per-
formed better than the bulk cast materials such as SAE 16.
The SAE 16 material exhibited plastic flow under the high
loads developed during the test. The better performance
of the thinner SAE 19 material was due to the greater in-
fluence of the elastic properties of the substrate.
If the overplated babbitt was removed during service by
some wear process, then the frictional properties of the base
material became important. Samples of SAE 781 and SAE
49 were tested without the overplated SAE 19 material to
duplicate this condition. The plain SAE 49 material failed
at less than 40% of the maximum test load, while the plain
SAE 781 alloy operated successfully at the maximum test
load. In addition, the plain SAE 781 material was capable
of operating at the full test load on disks having up to an
8 ji in. surface roughness. The new aluminum-babbitt m a -
terial exhibited test results similar to the SAE 781 material.
Two types of aluminum-207o tin materials were tested.
These materials ranged in failure loads from 700-1300 lb.
The use of disks having high surface roughness produced
failures at lower loads for the aluminum-20% tin materials.
1
|
I
I
|
|
Fig. 7 - Failure loads of bearing m a -
1200 1600 terials on Score Test Machine, 1500
POUNDS lb represents maximum test load
The new aluminum-babbitt bearing material has excel-
lent score resistance. Its score resistance was shown to be
comparable to the babbitt-type materials.
Corrosion Resistance - A bearing material which has
fatigue and wear resistance, embedability, and score re-
sistance has one more major requirement to satisfy. It must
resist corrosion damage. Excessive corrosive damage leads
to two problems in sleeve bearings. First, general corro-
sive wear, where the material being rubbed by the journal
is progressively removed, causes an increase of the clear-
ance in the bearing. This clearance can become so large
that the bearing can no longer perform its required function.
The second problem occurs when one constitutent is selec-
tively leached from the bearing material to such an extent
that the remaining structure collapses under the applied
load. This last mechanism has been demonstrated to occur
with copper-lead bearings where the lead is removed by
the acids in the oil.
'i One of the main functions of the additives in modern
lubricating oils is to prevent the formation of organic acids.
But, if these additives are broken down or removed from
the oil (for example, by small additions of water or high
temperatures), organic acids will form and cause corrosion.
This bearing material requirement was evaluated in the
CBTM. The test conditions were the same as the BETA test,
except the oil sump temperature was maintained at 310 F
(bearing back temperature averaged about 360 F) and the
length of test was 15 hr. This high temperature was e m -
ployed to hasten the breakdown of the oil additives.
Fig. 8 illustrates the amount of weight loss for each of
the bearing materials evaluated. It is readily apparent that
the corrosion problem was negligible in the lead and alu-
minum base materials. The only significant amount of
corrosion took place in the copper base material. These
results are consistent with those given in the literature. (8)
It does appear that the tin associated with the lead in the
new aluminum-babbitt bearing material prevents corrosion
damage.
DYNAMOMETER-ENGINE TESTS - As soon as the initial
laboratory bench tests of the new aluminum-babbitt m a -
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018

LEAD
BASE ^\ SAE 16 Table 2 - Dynamometer Engine Tests
<
UJ ALUMINUM ] ALUMINUM - BABBITT No. of
BASE Test hr Installations
] SAE 781 + 19
i—
COPPER Delco Moraine Tests 10,853 95
SAE 485 I
BASE
GM Divisional Tests 8,707 60
25 50 75 100 125 TOTAL 19,560 155
BEARING WEIGHT LOSS - MILLIGRAMS

Fig. 8 - Weight loss of bearing materials in Corrosion Test

terial showed such excellent performance, an extensive

dynamometer-engine test program was initiated by Delco
Moraine.
Standard laboratory engine tests have been established
for evaluating not only the overall durability of a bearing
material, but also for evaluating the individual performance
qualities or parameters of a bearing material. This was
accomplished through special engine test programs includ-
ing controlled environmental, bearing assembly, and engine
operation test conditions to simulate the previously described
bench tests. These tests also include bearing installations
in engines ranging from 230-472 cu in. displacement (CID)
and involved all rod, main, and flange bearing positions.
The evaluation of the individual performance parameters
of a bearing material was made from five different types
of special dynamometer-engine test programs. The fatigue
resistance in these tests was evaluated under conditions
which result in a bending fatigue comparison of a bearing
material, rather than compressive fatigue comparison as
Fig. 9 - Location of field tests on aluminum-babbitt bearing
evaluated in GMR AFTA test. The test consisted of an un-
material
supported area (a partial circumferential groove) behind
the back of the bearing which is located in the con-rod half
bearing assembly. This accelerated fatigue test was run Results - The performance of the new aluminum-babbitt
wide-open-throttle ( W . O . T . ) for 25 hr at 4500 rpm. bearing material in all the laboratory engine tests for sev-
Embedability was evaluated in uncleaned production- eral years have been excellent. (See Table 2.) These tests
built engines which had typical dirt contamination. No oil substantiated the comparative evaluations found in the bench
filters were used and no oil changes were made. These tests tests.
are run for 200 hr, W.O.T., at 4100-4600 rpm cycling speeds. The laboratory engine test program was also used as a
Score resistance was evaluated in engine tests which rapid screening test to evaluate fabrication and process var-
were run with a severe low-to-high speed cycling schedule. iations during the early days of the manufacturing develop-
The speed range was 1200-5000 rpm W.O.T. for a minimum ment program.
of 80 cycles. At the beginning of this material development program,
Corrosion resistance was determined in engines which the objective was to concentrate on applications for inter-
were insulated and heated by oil heaters to maintain a con- mediate performance engines. However, the excellent per-
stant oil temperature at 300 F. No oil changes were made formance in the early exploratory tests in some' of the larger
during the 200 hr test, which was run W.O.T. at 4500 rpm. displacement engines resulted in the objective being changed
An oil sample analysis was made every 25 hr to monitor to include the evaluation of this material in every GM pas-
the condition of the lubricant. senger-car engine. At the same time, the overall test pro-
Conformability, a measure of tolerance for bearing mis- gram was expanded to obtain complete exposure of alu-
assembly, shaft misalignment, shaft deflection, and bore minum-babbitt bearings in GM vehicle field tests.
distortion was evaluated by shifting the bearings axially to VEHICLE FIELD TESTS - Satisfactory vehicle field test
create an interference with the crankshaft fillet. This was exposure is a necessary milestone toward validating a new
a 200 hr test, run W.O.T., and cycled between 4100-4600 bearing material. Field tests for this purpose have been
rpm. going on for several years. It should be pointed out again,
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ALUMINUM - BABBITT

Fig. 10 - Photograph of rod bearings removed

after 100,900 miles of field testing SAE 784 * 19

that all bearing installations were made with mixed sets

of both the new aluminum-babbitt bearings and the current
production bearings for comparison purposes.
Many types of applications and geographical locations
have been included in these field tests (see Fig. 9).
Many miles have been accumulated with aluminum-
babbitt bearings in:
1. The mountains in Colorado and West Virginia.
Rods
2. The salt in California and Florida.
Mains
3. The cold in Minnesota and Canada.
Flanges
4. Police car and turnpike driving in Indiana and Florida.
5. Taxi cab abuse in Florida.
6. Durability driving at GM Proving Grounds in Arizona
and Michigan.
7. High-speed and high temperature endurance tests in
Arizona.
8. High-speed cross country driving throughout the United
States.
The results of the vehicle field tests have been partic-
ularly successful. The accumulated vehicle test miles since
1966 are listed in Table 3.
The field test evaluation of this new aluminum-babbitt
bearing has been a joint effort between Delco Moraine and
the GM car divisions. The divisional test results have also
been very successful. Over 3,700,000 miles have been a c -
cumulated by the divisions involving about 60 vehicles.
GM Proving Ground cooperative test programs have ac -
counted for 1,600,000 miles from 30 vehicles. Pilot pro-
duction assemblies have been made in 6000 engines. Field
test vehicles have been running with these pilot production
aluminum-babbitt bearings since October 1967, with no
reports of any performance problems.
Table 3 - Delco Moraine Vehicle Test Miles
Maximum Mileage
in a Single
Total Miles Installations Installation
8,219,514 232 100,900*
3,592,713 137 98,818
2,124,701 84 103,834
*A photograph of this bearing set is shown in Fig. 10.
APPLICATIONS
Aluminum-babbitt con-rod bearings are being used in
three intermediate performance engines built by General
Motors for the 1969 model year. This is an attractive m a -
terial for these engines, because it offers economy over
heavy-duty bearings without sacrifice of the required per-
formance level. Heavy-duty bearings had been considered
for these engines because the loads had been increased b e -
yond the capacity of babbitt bearings.
The many successful field tests show that this new m a -
terial can readily be used in main bearing and thrust-flange
locations. Another attractive application for this new m a -
terial should be bored-in-place bushings. Here, the heavy-
duty bearing cannot be used since it relies upon an over-
plate for many of its good features. Of course, the overplate
would be removed during any boring operation. This new
 Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
10
material offers the immediate opportunity to increase the
load capacity where babbitt bushings are overloaded. This
should be of particular interest for camshaft, transmission,
and wrist pin bushings where current materials are marginal.
The success of this new aluminum-babbitt bearing in a
wide range of applications has accelerated interest at all
the GM car divisions. As evaluations of this successful m a -
terial are continued, it will certainly be used for a greater
number of applications.
CONCLUSIONS
This new aluminum-babbitt bearing material has been
ably demonstrated to fulfill the requirements for an inter-
mediate bearing. It has fatigue and wear resistance ap-
proaching, and in some cases exceeding, that of the avail-
able heavy-duty bearings. Its corrosion and score resistance
are truly exceptional and it is clearly superior to copper-
lead materials for both these requirements. It has been
shown to have better score resistance and embedability than
the available aluminum-tin bearings.
After the difficult task of entraining the babbitt in the
aluminum alloy was successfully performed by GM Research
metallurgists, this material was demonstrated to fill the
performance gap in the bearing product line-up of General
Motors. This new aluminum-babbitt bearing material is
the most widely tested of any new bearing material prior
f This paper is subject to revision. Statements and opinions
JGK LAND ^ advanced in papers or discussion are the author's and are
SEA
ASfik
HM9L AIR
his responsibility, not the Society's; however, the paper has
NEAS* SPACE
Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
to production. All these laboratory and field tests clearly
show that this new aluminum-babbitt bearing material is
ready to take its place in the product line-up of General
Motors.
REFERENCES
1. J. Palsulich, "Tired Bearings - Reasons and Remedies."
Lubrication Engineering, Vol. 8, 1952, p . 293.
2. M. C. Shaw and E. F. Macks, "Analysis and Lubrica-
tion of Bearings." New York: McGraw-Hill, 1949, p. 471.
3. P. G. Forrester, et. al., "The Development and Per-
formance of Reticular 20 Percent Tin-Aluminum Bearings."
Proc. Instn. Mech. Engrs., Vol. 175, No. 10, 1961, p. 537.
4. A. E. Roach, C. L. Goodzeit and R. P. Hunnicutt,
"Scoring Characteristics of Thirty-Eight Different Elemental
Metals on High Speed Sliding Contact With Steel." Trans.
ASME, Vol. 78, 1956, p. 1659.
5. A. W. Schlucter, U. S. Patent, 2,752,239.
6. H. Y. Hunsicker, "Aluminum Alloy Bearings - Metal-
lurgy, Design and Service Characteristics." Sleeve Bearing
Materials, ASM, 1949, p. 84.
7. R. Davies, "Compatibility of Metal Pairs." Handbook
of Mechanical Wear, Ann Arbor: The University of Michi-
gan Press, 1961, p. 7.
8. H. H. Zuidema, "The Performance of Lubricating
Oils." New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1959, p . 95.
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