Sintered Steel and Bronze in Plain Bearings

The sintered steels and sintered bronzes are produced from powdered metals. Continuous pores are filled by oil or another lubricant. During operation, oil is forced out of the bearing where the shaft contacts it. Oil flows though the pores from other parts of the bearing to replenish the oil supply. The common operating temperature is 35° C. It must not exceed 70° C. Bushings saturated by oil are used for bearings in tape recorders, record players, starters, blenders for the kitchen, motors for heating and wipers, agricultural machines, and so on. The surface texture of the shaft should not exceed 0.2 microns and should have a hardness of at least 50 HRC.