New plain bearing material achieves lower coefficients of friction without external lubrication

Federal mogul has a new lead-free version of the "Deva.bm" Slide bearing material developed for self-lubricating applications in a wide variety of industrial sectors. The bearings are so effective that they can replace lead-based solutions in much of the application while providing long life with comparable cost, friction and runflat.

Lead in the case of bronze plain bearings is often used as emergency lubrication, which is activated only at very high surface temperatures to avoid failures. The high performance and self-lubricating bearing material contains a high percentage of solid lubricants such as graphite or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to reduce friction and keep surface temperatures low. Therefore, in the future lead can be dispensed with as part of the Deva.bm sliding bearing material.

Intensive comparison tests between the lead-free material and the lead-containing Deva.bm products showed less wear at the same load capacity and cost under certain load conditions even for the lead-free solutions. However, the supplier continues to produce lead-containing materials to be able to supply spare parts for existing applications, even though many manufacturers are already converting their lead-free applications.