Centrifugally Cast Bronze-Back Bearings for Heavy-Duty Operation

Abstract

Abstract The art of centrifugally casting bronze-backed bearings for use in heavy-duty Diesel engines is only 4 to 5 years old and was introduced by the United States Navy at the end of the last war. Steel-backed bearing material will withstand any actually applied loads in operation without permanent deformation, because of adequate physical properties. However, sand-cast bronze-backed bearings did not operate satisfactorily when subjected to high cyclic loads. The introduction of centrifugally cast bronze for that purpose made it possible to use successfully bronze-backed bearings for heavy-duty application. This paper describes the performance and the salient points of manufacture of centrifugally cast bronze-backed bearings. Comparison of the sand-cast and of centrifugally cast bronzes are discussed and the advantages of the latter are mentioned. Methods of rational casting of bearing-back-bronze material are also discussed in detail and steps for the improvement of their physical properties are indicated.