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S E C T I O N 5
MAINTENANCE OF
MECHANICAL
EQUIPMENT
Copyright © 2008, 2002, 1995, 1988, 1977, 1966, 1957 by The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc. Click here for terms of use.
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CHAPTER 1
PLAIN BEARINGS
R. Keith Mobley
Principal, Life Cycle Engineering, Inc., Charleston, S.C.
GENERAL
Plain or sleeve bearings are designed to support shafts that rotate, oscillate, or reciprocate. Though
seemingly simple, and certainly one of the least expensive of mechanical parts, sleeve bearings are highly
engineered components. They range from porous selflubricated powder metal parts only a fraction of an
inch in diameter to stationary power plant bearings, which often exceed 18 in. in diameter.
With few exceptions, sleeve bearing lubrication is hydrodynamic; that is, during operation, the
shaft floats on a thin film of the lubricant. Because of this, friction and wear are minimized.
However, it is important to realize that this socalled minimum film thickness is not the same as the
bearing clearance. While the latter may be up to several thousandth of an inch, the minimum film
thickness is typically on the order of one tenthousandth of an inch. Nevertheless, sleeve bearings
can have an almost unlimited life, provided proper maintenance practices are followed. When
replacement does become necessary, following proper refurbishing and assembly procedures will
assure extended life of the replaced parts.
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
Lubricant Supply. Proper bearing design and material are necessary to achieve long service life but
are not by themselves sufficient. The lubricant is the key component of the system which deter
mines bearing life. Reduced to simplest terms, if a sleeve bearing is provided with an adequate flow
of the proper clean lubricant, long life should be realized.
Lubricant flow to the bearings is a function of the equipment design. Oil pressure at specified speeds
should be within the limits given by the equipment builder. Lower values suggest worn bearings. In this
case, replacement should be made as soon as is feasible. Excessive pressures indicate a blockage or
restriction somewhere in the system. This should be investigated immediately. The oil level also should
be checked on a routine basis to avoid pump cavitation and subsequent oil starvation. In nonpressurized
lube systems, reservoirs should be checked on a regular schedule to ensure that adequate oil is always
present. Wickfed bearings, such as those in fractional horsepower electric motors, should be lubricated
periodically according to the schedule called for by the manufacturer.
Cleanliness. Sleeve bearings simply cannot survive without adequate lubrication. Once this is
assured, the next most important consideration is the cleanliness of the lubricant. Since minimum
film thickness is so small, the presence of oilborne debris can greatly accelerate the wear process.
If foreign materials such as metal chips and abrasives are large and numerous, bearing failure can
5.3
Copyright © 2008, 2002, 1995, 1988, 1977, 1966, 1957 by The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc. Click here for terms of use.
5.4 MAINTENANCE OF MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
occur rapidly. It is therefore of the utmost importance to change the lubricant in accordance with
the equipment builder’s recommendations. The lubricant filter, if one is used, also must be replaced
according to schedule. The air filter, if one is present, should be serviced at recommended intervals,
for airborne contamination is a primary source of vitreous abrasives that find their way into the oil.
If the equipment is operated for extended periods in dirty or dusty environments, more frequent
lubricant and filter changes should be adopted. Usually the equipment builder has established rec
ommended change frequencies under these conditions. If not, a good practice is to make changes at
intervals from onethird to onehalf of that normally recommended.
Lubricant contamination can occur in storage as well. However, simple good housekeeping, such as
covering open containers and reservoirs tightly to exclude dirt and water, and keeping anything which
contacts the lubricant (oil can, funnels, etc.) as clean as possible will prevent problems.
Lubricant Type. Ensuring an adequate flow of clean lubricant makes long bearing life possible but
does not guarantee it. The oil must be the proper one for the application. From a bearing
performance viewpoint, lubricant viscosity is the most important parameter. Lowerviscosity (i.e.,
thinner) oils reduce oil film thickness. This increases the wear rate and can possibly lead to failure.
It is critical that the equipment manufacturer’s lubricant recommendations be followed.
In addition, the proper combination of oil additives is necessary to prevent rapid breakdown,
thickening, foaming, and sludging. All these effects can lead to bearing failure, as well as to the
damage of other components. Failure to use the recommended lubricant can have dire
consequences and, in most cases, voids the equipment warranty. Extended drain intervals should
not be adopted without a strictly monitored oil analysis program.
BEARING MATERIALS
Requirements
Surface Action. Sometimes referred to as slipperiness or compatibility, surface action is the ability
of a material to resist seizure when contacted by the shaft. Contact takes place every time the
equipment is started or stopped and can also occur during momentary overloads.
Embeddability. The ability of a material to absorb foreign particles circulating in the oil stream is
referred to as embeddability. Some particles will go unfiltered, so the material must be soft enough
to ingest them.
Conformability. The material also must be soft enough to creep or flow slightly to compensate for
the minor geometric irregularities which are present in every assembly. These include
misalignment, outofround, and taper.
Fatigue Strength. This is the ability of a bearing material to withstand the loads to which it is sub
jected without cracking. Bearings should not fatigue prior to the normally scheduled overhaul.
Temperature Strength. As operating temperatures increase, bearing materials tend to lose strength.
This property indicates how well a material carries a load at elevated temperatures, without break
ing up or flowing out of shape.
Thermal Conductivity. Shear of the oil film by the shaft generates significant heat, most of which
is carried away by the oil. Nevertheless, it is important for the bearing to transfer heat rapidly from
its surface through its back to avoid overheating and resultant reduction in life.
Corrosion Resistance. Oils oxidize with use, and the products of this degradation can be corrosive.
Blow by products and fuel or coolant contamination of the oil also promote a corrosive
environment. Bearing materials should be resistant to these effects.
PLAIN BEARINGS 5.5
Construction
Most hydrodynamic bearings are metallic, primarily for reasons of thermal conductivity. They may
consist of one, two, or three layers.
Monometals. Bearings made from a solid bar or tubes of an aluminum or bronze alloy have been
available for a number of years. They are generally used where loads are not very high. In order to
have the same rigidity as a bearing with steel back (see below) and to avoid yielding at operating
temperature, they are made with a comparatively thick wall. As a result, they require a larger
housing bore.
Bimetals. A bimetal bearing has a steel back, to which is bonded a liner of Babbitt, copperlead, or
aluminum. Babbitts are soft alloys of lead or tin, with additives such as copper, antimony, and
arsenic. They have outstanding embeddability, conformability, and surface action but relatively low
fatigue strength. Copperlead and aluminum are harder than Babbitt and have much better strength,
but at a sacrifice of the other properties.
Trimetals. In order to achieve the desirable surface properties of a Babbitt bearing and the strengths
of harder materials, the trimetal bearing was developed for heavyduty applications. In this
construction, a thin (usually about 0.001in) layer of a soft material is either electroplated or cast
onto the copperlead or aluminum layer of a bimetal. The surface layer (overlay) imparts the
desired “soft” properties to the bearing; however, because it is so thin, it derives improved fatigue
strength from the intermediate layer; that is, it is much stronger than a thick layer of the same soft
alloy.
Table 1.1 shows the compositions of some of the more popular plain bearing materials in use
today.
Copper base Cu Pb Sn Zn
49 75 24 0.5 — Trimetal
791 88 4 4 4 Monometal
792 80 10 10 — Bimetal
793 84 8 4 — Bimetal
794 72 23 3 — Bimetal
Aluminum base Al Sn Cu Ni Si Cd Pb
770 92 6 1 1 — — — Monometal
780 91 6 1 0.5 1.5 — — Bimetal/trimetal
781 95 — — — 4 1 — Trimetal
782 95 — 1 1 — 3 — Trimetal
787 85 1.5 1 — 4 — 8.5 Bimetal