A

Seminar
on
POWDER METALLURGICAL
BEARINGS
• Roll no :- 365
PREPARED BY :- ASHUTOSH SINGH
• Subject :- Powder Metallurgy
GUIDED BY :- Dr VANDANA J RAO • Class:- M.E-II (Industrial Metallurgy)
( Associate Professor )

Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering

Faculty of Technology and Engineering
The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
 CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION
 P/M POROUS BEARINGS
 TYPES OF BEARINGS
 PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES OF BEARINGS
 TESTING OF BEARINGS
 ADVANTAGES AND DISAVANTAGES OF BEARINGS
 APPLICATIONS
 REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
• Powder Metallurgy products range from aerospace and automobile parts to
engineering and household appliance components.

• Porous components like bearings, filters and porous electrodes form one of the
major area of P/M Parts. The amount of porosity in bearings is dependent on
size, shape and size distribution of pores.
• The main feature of these products is that the presence of interconnected pores
enables flow of fluids to flow through these pores.

• A Bearing is a device to permit constrained relative motion between two parts, typically
rotation or linear movement.

• When there is a relative motion between two machine parts, one of which supports the
others.The supporting member is called Bearing
• A bearing permits relative motion between two machine members while minimizing
Frictional resistance.

• A bearing consists of an inner and outer member separated either by a thin film of Lubricant
or a rolling element.

• A bearing bears the load.

• It locates the moving parts in correct position.

• It provides free motion to the moving part by reducing friction

P/M POROUS BEARINGS
• Sintered-metal self-lubricating bearings, produced by P/M route are a unique P/M product,
they are economical, suitable for high production rates and can be manufactured to precision
tolerances.
• Important Requirements of a P/M bearing material are follows:-
1. Good Lubrication characteristics with min maintenance and long service life.
2. Adequate mech strength including fatigue strength over a range of temperatures.
3. Good wear characteristics.
4. Good heat dissipation capacity.
5. Ability to withstand both static and impact loads.
6. Must not weld/sieze with the mating parts during service.

• Bearings come with or without a steel backing, Teflon bearings do not have backing. Both
Teflon as well as unbacked bearings are employed for specialized applications.
TERMINOLOGY

• Inner race
• Outer race
• Inner and outer
diameters
• Width
• Categories of Porous Bearings :-
• Most porous-metal bearings are made of either bronze or iron, with 10 to 30 vol%
interconnected voids or porosity. In operation, lubricating oil stored in these pores feed the
bearing surface through these interconnected pores.

• Dry bearings are made from metallic alloys or from teflon. This bearing material is soft
enough to handle interference fits with minimal stick-slip and low coefficient of friction. Dry
bearings re available with metal backing made of aluminium and bronze-steel.

• Basic materials used in manufacture P/M- bearing applications include:

• Bronze ( 90% copper & 10% tin)
• Leaded bronzes ( lead is 19% , rest is copper and tin)
• Iron ( with copper addition upto 10% max)
• Leaded Iron ( lead improves speed capability and reduces cost)
• Aluminium ( lighter weight, longer life than porous iron or bronze)
 TYPES OF BEARINGS

BALL BEARING

A Ball bearing is a common type

of rolling – element – bearing.

-Point contact; support radial and

axial loads.
ANGULAR CONTACT BALL BEARING

Designed for axial loading; used in

pairs

These bearing are used where the

thrust load is equal to or greater
than radial load.
THRUST BALL BEARING

– Designed for pure

axial loading

This type comprises a row of balls

running between two flat groove
washers with balls track designed to
absorbed thrust load in one direction
this does not with stand any radial
loads, also with this is not suitable for
higher speeds.
ROLLER BEARING

Roller bearings are used in rotary applications to replace

sliding movement with low friction, rolling motion.

The principal types of roller bearings are cylindrical,

spherical, and tapered. In general, roller bearings offer
higher load capacities than ball bearings of the same
size
CYLINDRICAL ROLLER BEARING

– Supports high radial

loads; slower speed
ratings
TAPERED ROLLER BEARING

High radial and axial load ratings;

used in pairs

These bearings carry heavy loads

at moderate speed. There should
always be mounted in pairs with
opposed taper because in each
bearing the radial load produced an
axial component which needs
counter balance
SPHERICAL ROLLER BEARING

– Allows for misalignment

These bearings are suitable for use with

independent support housing and
wherever there is possibility of a lack of
alignment. It can carry medium or heavy
redial or combined load.
NEEDLE ROLLER BEARING

Thrust and radial types; typically no

inner race

These bearings are used in plans

where the speed in low or oscillation
takes place as in wrist pin, rocker arm,
universal joint etc.
 JOURNAL BEARING

A journal bearing is a simple bearing in

which a shaft, or "journal", rotates in
the bearing with a layer of oil or
grease separating the two parts
through fluid dynamic effects.
PLANE BEARING

It is also comes under category of

journal bearing.

Plain bearings and sleeve bearings

(journal bearings) are used to
constrain, guide or reduce
friction in rotary or linear
applications.
 The ball and roller bearing consists of following
parts:
 Inner ring or race which fits on the shaft.
 Outer ring or race which fits inside the
housing.
 Ball and roller arranged between the
surfaces of two races. These provide
rolling action between the races.
 the radius of the track for balls is slightly
greater 5 to 10 % than that of the ball
themselves.
 Note that the rotating surfaces rotate in
opposite directions.
 Cage which separates the balls or rollers
from one another.

The disadvantage of the ball and roller bearings are

high cost, they cannot be used in half, and greater
noise.
PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES OF BEARINGS
• Production of Sintered Bearings
• In the production of bearings by P/M route, powder characteristics like particle size and
distribution, and particle shape play important role.
• For instance , in the case of bronze bearings, the amount of shrinkage increases as the
particle size of elemental tin or copper powder in the mix decreases.
• Lubricants used in the mix have significant effect on the apparent density and flow rate.

• Production of Non-porous Bearings

• Major bearing in this class are aluminium-based alloys, copper-based alloys and lead-tin based
with steel backing.
• Production of these bearings includes the following steps:
1. Production of alloy powders of suitable composition by gas atomization
2. Powder consolidation ( powder spread on steel backing plate uniformly)
3. Sintering of strip part in reducing atmosphere in temp range 800-850 oC .
4. Rolling : The sintered strip is then rolled to densify the strip.
Production of Porous Bearings

Flow chart for production of copper base self – lubricating bearings.

• The steps involved in the manufacture of typical porous bearings are as under:-

1. Powder selection:- Powder for bronze base bearings use copper based electrolytic, atomized
or reduction route. Tin powders are made by atomization.

2. Mixing:- Mixing of elemental powders is done prior to compaction. It is important to ensure

through mixing in order to avoid segregation of particles during sintering, which results in non
uniform sintering.

3. Compaction:- The mixed powders are compacted to the required dimensions using automated
compaction presses. Powder is pressed at the room temperature. Proper green density is
achieved by controlling the compaction pressure.
4. Sintering:- Sintering is carried out in continuous mesh-belt furnaces under a reducing
atmosphere. During sintering ,the lubricants are driven off at temperatures between 400 and
450oC. Sintering is carried out at different temperature depending upon type of material.
Sintering may cause growth of the compact, which must be taken care of during design stage.

5. Sizing:- All self-lubricating bearings are sized after sintering to control their dimensions within
the allowed tolerances. This enables smooth operation of porous bearings. Standard chart are
also available indicating the recommended bearing clearances for different types of bearings.

6. Infiltration:- After sizing, the bearings are impregnated with the lubricant. This term refers to
the filling of the pores in the sintered part with either oil or a polymer
TESTING OF BEARINGS
• The bearings are mainly tested for their radial crushing strength of the bearings.
• The radial crushing strength of a bearing is given by the formula
P= KLT 2 / (D- T)
where
P= radial crushing load (kg)
K= strength constant for the bearing grade
L= length of the bearing (cm)
D= outer diameter of the bearing (cm)
T= wall thickness of the bearing (cm)

• The radial crushing strength should exceed the value calculated from the above formula.
Other types of porous parts are tested by special break test.
• Permeability test is one of the most important characteristics of a porous body, which is
measured by passing a fluid through the porous body and measuring the pressure drop
across the specimen.
 ADVANTAGES AND DISAVANTAGES OF PLAIN
BEARINGS

• Plain bearing are cheap to produce and have noiseless operation. They can be easily
machined, occupy small radial space and have vibration damping properties. Also they
can cope with tapped foreign matter.

• Disadvantages are they require large supply of lubricating oil, they are suitable only for
relative low temperature and speed; and starting resistance is much greater than running
resistance due to slow build up of lubricant film around the bearing surface.
APPLICATIONS
(1) Applications of infiltrated bearings:-
• Self –lubricating bearings are used in fractional horse power motors used in electric fans,
vacuum cleaners, washing machines, sewing machines, food mixers, refrigerators, air-
conditioners, textile and office equipment.
• Their importance lies in the fact that they are very useful where external lubriation is difficult or
to be avoided (e.g. food industries)

(2) Applications of non-porous bearings:-

• Copper-lead bearings are employed in automotive applications and for low-duty applications
in compressors and gearboxes.
• Heavy duty applications bearings are made from copper-lead alloys having an layer of lead or
lead-tin alloy.
• Such an overlay offers excellent fatigue properties to the bearings besides improving anti
seizure characteristics and corrosion resistance to oil.
Rolling or anti-friction bearing
 REFERENCES
• Powder Metallurgy (science, technology and applications)
by P.C. Angelo , R Subramanian
• Powder Metallurgy ( An advanced technique of processing engineering
materials )
• www.powdermetallurgicalbearings
• Powder metallurgy by A.K Sinha
• Internet source