Mailing List flyrotary@lancaironline.net Message #15914
From: Ed Anderson <eanderson@carolina.rr.com>
Subject: Babbitt bearing material and heat : [FlyRotary] Performance coatings- bearing damage?
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:06:59 -0500
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Message
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 12:54 PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Performance coatings- bearing damage?

Greetings,
 
I just talked to Brad at Performance Coatings, and he said they try to batch items together, to keep from wasting material.  For scheduling purposes, it's interesting to note that they do piston tops, and rotors on Wednesdays.   They charge $45 for each rotor.  The process includes blasting the rotor faces, spraying on the coating, and curing it at 350 degrees.  They have a fixture that they use on rotors, which keeps anything from touching the bearing.  
 
Will the bearing be damaged at 350 degrees?  I'm thinking there's a good chance it will. 
 
Thanks,
Rusty (still undecided)
 
Rusty, I suspect our rotary bearings are better than the older babbitt bearings - but, I know nothing about what the wear surface of todays automobile bearings are.  In any case, it looks if they were made of babbitt 350F would be a bit too much.  The question is would the bearing get to 350F before the rotor's outter surfaces?
 
Ed A
  • Babbitt has good load carrying capacity between 800 PSI and 1500 PSI

  • Maximum operating temperature for Babbitt is 300º F. In motors 180º F to 190º F is considered running hot.  Some turbine applications run as high as 225° F. Many technicians however, will set the alarm at 185º F and trip at 205º F.

  • Melting temperature for common Babbitt varies from 350º F to 475º  F

  • Special bonding techniques are required to metallurgically bond Babbitt to metal
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