Bearing Metals; Novel Bearing Materials; Glands and Seals; Solid Lubricants; Surface Treatments Available to Purchase

Phosphating mild steel causes the surface to be etched into a network of microscopic channels 0.0004 to 0.0008 in. deep, the phosphate crystals being located on the intervening high spots. With this type of surface, running‐in is both rapid and safe and low friction conditions are soon established. The phosphate crystals do not act as a solid lubricant in the same sense as graphite or M0S2; initial friction is higher and final friction is much lower. Friction of MoS2, for example decreases with rubbing by a factor of 4, from 0.2 to 0.05, whereas the friction of phosphated steel decreased by a factor of 60, from 0.3 to 0.005. In addition, the final friction of the run‐in phosphated surface depended on temperature and pressure in a manner characteristic of ‘thin film’ fluid lubrication, not ‘boundary’ or ‘solid’ lubrication.