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| Bearings and bushings |
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The essential tasks of a bearing consist of supporting the moving parts as well as absorbing and transmitting the resulting forces. However, in today's engine designs, increasing attention must be paid to other objectives, such as improving the load resistance, wear reduction, NVH optimization, as well as increased conformability of the bearing material to the shaft or the shaft deformation respectively. MAHLE's product range offers comprehensive solutions - designed to push the limits of the load resistance even further.
The MAHLE bearing and bushing program
MAHLE offers a comprehensive product range for bearings, whether for connecting rods or main bearings, with thrust washers or flanged main bearings. Likewise, a full range of sizes and materials is available for applications in passenger car and commercial vehicle engines. These include aluminum-based two-layer bearings, with the alloy being directly cladded to the steel back, as well as bronze-based three-layer bearings, with the bronze-alloy being cast or sintered to the steel back. The third layer, the overlay, can be applied by galvanic, sputter, or thermal spray processes.
Environmental concern
Against the background of the European directive to banish lead from the automotive industry, MAHLE has in its current portfolio lead-free aluminum-based as well as bronze-based high-performance alloys for bearing and bushing applications. New three-layer bearings, which are being implemented or are currently under development, include entirely lead-free sputter bearings as well as innovative thermal sprayed and electroplated coatings based on lead-free bronzes.
Greater load-carrying capacity without increasing size
How can you maintain or increase performance at ever-greater loads without increasing the size of bearings at the same time? Improved design is the key. Using advanced simulation tools, the bearing geometry can be optimized. With optimum eccentric shaping of the connecting rod bearing, the compensation of warping caused by the forces is improved. Simulation is also used for the right material selection for a given application. MAHLE has various simulation tools at its disposal, which can realistically model the bearing/bushing behavior in the engine. These numerical tools are connected to a comprehensive database of operational cases and experience values in skilled engineering.