Tribological and mechanical properties of Al alloyed bearings

Aluminum based alloys are widely used as journal bearing materials in tribological applications. Duralumines, AlMgSi are widely used as journal bearing materials for aluminum based alloys. These alloys provide properties expected from journal bearings. In this study, tribological and mechanical properties of these journal bearings manufactured from aluminum alloys were investigated. SAE 1050 steel shaft was used as counter abrader. Experiments were carried out in every 30 min for the total of 150 min by using radial journal bearing wear test rig. Wear resistance of Al alloyed bearings increased about 2–3 times and journal wear resistance increased about 2–8 times. The highest bearing wear rate occurred in pure Al bearings while the lowest bearing wear rate occurred in AlMgSi bearing.