KS PERMAGLIDE® plain bearing Low-maintenance and maintenance-free plain bearings Bearing material development has the objective of linking two opposing goals: to always find an optimum between high mechanical load bearing capacity and high wear resistance (hard material), while providing good adjustability and emergency running properties (soft material). As a global supplier to the automotive industry, KSPG’s expertise in air supply systems, emission control and pumps and in the development, manufacture and spare-parts supply of pistons, engine blocks and plain bearings puts it right at the top of the markets. KS Gleitlager is the specialist for high-precision sliding elements in the KSPG Group. The introduction of new technologies in production and surface finishing, innovative material developments and a clear customer focus have made KS Gleitlager into one of the world’s leading suppliers of metallic bearings and metal-plastic composite bearings (Permaglide®). The name Permaglide®, a registered trademark of KS Gleitlager GmbH, embodies the product characteristic of permanently low-wear sliding. Low-friction plastic compounds in porous bronze structures are used in applications where there is no lubrication using oil or grease available. This has created low-maintenance to maintenancefree plain bearing solutions for use in vehicles, machinery and many other applications. By using plastic on a metallic base material, a material combination is created which offers both good sliding characteristics and the bearing capacity and thermal conductivity of metal. The use of solid lubricants in the plastic matrix makes it possible to use Permaglide® plain bearings even without oil or grease lubrication. Depending on the customer’s requirements and application, there are a number of maintenance-free and lowmaintenance materials available. Their structure is basically the same: a porous bronze sintered structure, applied to a steel or bronze back, is impregnated with the respective Page: 130
plastic mixture. The solid lubricant creates a lubricating film between the interacting sliding parts. It is responsible for low-noise operation with constantly low friction values throughout the entire service life of the component. This is achieved in the series of maintenance-free products by means of a mixture of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) with wear-retardant and thermally conductive additives. It is not always possible to carry out plain bearing application tasks using products made from maintenance-free material. In such cases, low-maintenance materials are the perfect solution. In this instance, the sliding surface taking up the wear load is formulated from a PVDF (polyvinylidenfluoride) matrix. To reduce the friction value and improve thermal conductivity, special additives are mixed into the matrix. In addition, the surface of the sliding layer may optionally be equipped with oil distributing pockets to accommodate grease or oil. For Permaglide® bearings for extremely high performance requirements, KS Gleitlager applies a PEEK (polyether ether ketone) plastic matrix that is compounded with special nanoscaled bulking agents to improve its tribological properties. Similar to petrol and diesel engine bearings, increasing technical demands and minimised installation clearance determine the development efforts for Permaglide® bearings. This demonstrates the immense know-how of KS Gleitlager specialists. In line with customer requirements, not only are geometries and shapes selectively developed but the optimisation of sliding layer systems creates products with purpose-adjusted kinetic momentum. Moreover, customers do not need to adapt the design of their assemblies to suit the sliding element; the Permaglide® bearing optimally adjusts to the assembly group design.
Bearing News • Issue 4