Tribological Studies on Oscillating Bronze Bearings Lubricated With Environmentally Adapted Lubricants (EALs)

Different compositions of bronze materials are used for sliding bearings in various applications including those involving oscillatory motion and moderate temperatures. The compatibility of new environmentally adapted synthetic esters with different contacting surface materials is important to ensure good tribological performance. The present work deals with tribological studies on oscillatory journal bearings manufactured with three different compositions of bronze materials lubricated with EALs under boundary lubricated conditions. Under certain operating conditions, dissolution of alloying constituents from the bronze bearing material dissolute into the synthetic ester lubricant occur leading to the formation of a copper enriched bearing surface layer. Tin-bronze with synthetic ester lubricant showed more stable friction values and roughly ten times better wear results than the harder aluminium- and manganese-bronze and also outperformed the mineral oil under the same conditions.