AMES develops new Powder Metallurgy bearing design with low friction coefficient
July 9, 2014
The Powder Metallurgy (PM) industry continues to make advances in the performance of one of its longest established products, sintered self-lubricating bearings. AMES SA, headquartered in Sant Feliu de LLobregat, Spain, is one of Europe’s leading PM part and self-lubricating bearing producers, and the company reported at the PM2014 World Congress, Orlando, USA, May 19-22, that it has developed a new bearing design designated with the trade name LCF® (low friction coefficient).
It is claimed that the new bearing design not only improves the friction coefficient but also reduces wear and increases bearing life. Francesc Cabestany stated in a presentation that the new bearing design involves the use of a double layer sintered porous bearing with an external copper-base layer providing the contact area between the axle or shaft and bearing.
The developed Cu-base external layer is said to facilitate the rapid formation of a hydrodynamic oil film during running-in with the resulting reduction in the coefficient of friction to very low levels (<0.05) in a few seconds. Due to these low values of friction coefficient, Cabestany said that initial power consumption of the system during repeated start-ups can be significantly reduced.
A further enhancement of the performance of the new design of sintered bearings has been made by adding oil wedges to the inner diameter of the double layer bearing, a variant that AMES calls LCF-Z®.
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