Materials

& Design
Materials and Design 28 (2007) 318323
www.elsevier.com/locate/matdes

Short communication

A study on tribological behaviour of tin-based

bearing material in dry sliding
A. Zeren *, E. Feyzullahoglu, M. Zeren
_
University of Kocaeli, Faculty of Engineering, Vinsan Campus, Izmit,
Turkey
Received 13 January 2005; accepted 26 May 2005
Available online 26 July 2005

Abstract
In this study, we investigated the tribological behaviour of two dierent tin-based bearing materials in dry sliding conditions. One
of these alloys with low Sb content (7%) is known as SAE 12 and is widely used in the automotive industry and the other with high
Sb content (20%) is a SnSbCu alloy. Wear and friction characteristics were determined with respect to sliding distance, sliding
speed and bearing load, using a Tecquipment HFN type 5 journal bearing test equipment. Hardness measurements were carried
out to determine the eect of the increase in Sb content and its impact on tribological properties. Light microscopy is used to understand the tribological events in these two dierent bearing materials.
Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the tribological properties of tin-based bearing alloys with dierent compositions,
used especially in heavy industrial service conditions. Tests were carried out in dry sliding conditions, since despite the presence of
lubricant lm, under heavy service conditions dry sliding may occur from time to time, causing local wear. As a result of local wear,
bearing materials and bearing may be out of their tolerance limits in their early life time.
 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Tin-based materials; Tribology; Dry sliding

1. Introduction
Many materials have been tried as bearing components. In 1839, Babbitt patented a SnSbCu alloy for
use in journal bearings. White metal is now widely used
as a material for sliding bearings operating under oil
lubrication, for example, bearing for general industrial
use, marine use and automotive use. One of the most
heavy duty applications of thrust bearings is in hydroelectric power stations for support of the shaft, carrying
hydraulic turbine and electric generator. White metal can
be fundamentally classied into two types. One has lead
as its main component, the other tin. A bearing works in
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 262 3353658/51168; fax: +90 262

3355486.
E-mail address: zeren@kou.edu.tr (A. Zeren).
0261-3069/$ - see front matter  2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2005.05.016

a stabilised manner when a proper lm thickness is

formed and maintained between shaft and bearing. However, under unacceptably high loads and shaft revolution
speeds, or improper lubricating conditions, a bearing is
often damaged when a sucient thickness of the oil lm
is not formed between shaft and bearing. Under these
conditions, shaft and white metal make partial contact
with each other during the sliding wear process. This
condition is called boundary lubrication [14].
Lead and tin white metal alloys are commonly the
rst choice for bearing materials in oering superior
compatibility with steel shafts, their ability (due to
their softness) to embed foreign particles, and their
unique ability to adapt to misalignment by mild wiping on initial run-in as enabled by their low melting
points. Table 1 covers representative physical properties of typical Babbitt compositions [2].

A. Zeren et al. / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 318323

Table 1
Physical properties of babbitte alloys (tin-based white metals)
Tin-base
Designation
ASTM B23
SAE
Nominal composition (%)
Tin
Lead
Antimony
Copper
Arsenic
Specic gravity
Melting point (C)
Complete liquefaction (C)
Brinell hardness
Ultimate tensile strength (MPa)
Compressive yield strength (MPa)
Approximate strength retained at
100 C
150 C
200 C

11

2
12

87

89

84

7
6

7.5
3.5

8
8

7.4
240
400
26
90
45

7.39
241
354
24
77
42

7.45
240
422
27

49
23
5

52
24
7

52
24
7

Despite their higher cost, tin babbitts are often used

in preference to lead babbitts for their excellent corrosion resistance, easy bonding, and less tendency towards

319

segregation. SAE 12 (ASTM Grade 2) is widely used in

industrial and automotive bearings. SAE 11 and ASTM
Grade 3 also nd extensive industrial use [25]. Table 2
shows the characteristics of widely used bearing materials [5].
The babbitts are among the most widely used materials for hydrodynamically lubricated bearings. Babbitts
are either tin or lead-based alloys having excellent
embeddability and conformability characteristics. They
are unsurpassed in compatibility and thus prevent shaft
scoring [69].
Tin Babbitt alloys commonly contain about 38%
copper and 58% antimony. Within a soft solution
matrix antimony in tin, small, hard Cu6Sn5 coppertin
intermetallic particles are dispersed. Increasing copper
increases the proportion of Cu6Sn5 needles or stars in
the microstructure. An increase in antimony above
7.5% results in antimonytin cubes. Hardness and tensile
strength increase with greater copper and antimony content, while ductility decreases. Low antimony (37%) and
low copper content (24%) provide maximum resistance
to fatigue cracking. Since these low-alloy compositions
are relatively soft and weak, a compromise is often made
with fatigue resistance and compressive strength [1,2].

Table 2
Characteristics of widely used bearing materials
Physical property

Signicance of property in service

Characteristics of widely used materials

White metals

Copper-base alloys

Aluminium-base alloys

Fatigue strength

To sustain imposed dynamic

loadings at operating
temperature

Adequate for many applications,

but falls rapidly with rise of
temperature

Wide range of strength

available by selection of
composition

Similar to copper-base
alloys by appropriate
selection of composition

Compressive
strength

To support uni-directional
loading without extrusion or
dimensional change

As above

As above

As above

Embeddability

To tolerate and embed foreign

matter in lubricant, so
minimising journal wear

Excellent-unequalled by any
other bearing materials

Conformability

To tolerate some misalignment or

journal deection under load

Inferior to white metals.

Softer weaker alloys with
low melting point
constituent, e.g., lead;
superior to harder
stronger alloys in this
category. These
properties can be
enhanced by provision of
overlay, e.g., leadtin or
leadindium, on bearing
surface where
appropriate

Inferior to white metals.

Alloys with high content
of low melting point
constituent, e.g., tin or
cadmium; superior in
these properties to
copper-base alloys of
equivalent strength.
Overlays may be
provided in appropriate
cases to enhance these
properties

Compatibility

To tolerate momentary boundary

lubrication or metal-to-metal
contact without seizure

Corrosion
resistance

To resist attack by acidic oil

oxidation products or water or
coolant in lubricant

Tin-base white metals excellent in

the absence of sea water. Leadbase white metals attacked by
acidic products

Lead constituent, if
present, susceptible to
attack. Resistance
enhanced by leadtin or
leadtincopper overlay

Good. No evidence of
attack of aluminium-rich
matrix even by alkaline
high-additive oils

A. Zeren et al. / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 318323

Sn

2. Experimental

89.264
60.309

320

Ni
Te

0.0022
0.0033
0.0224
0.0305

Tl
In

0.0048
0.0034
0.0162
0.0189

Fe
Al

0. 0004
0. 0007
<0.0001
0.0001

S
Zn

0.0100
0.0462
<0.0001
0.0001

Cr
Cd

0.0027
0.0079
0.0033
0.0047

Bi
As

0.0010
0.0134
0.0010
0.0036

Ag
Cu
Pb
Sb

Table 3
Chemical compositions of specimens

Fig. 1. Journal bearing system used in the experimental study. (1)

Control box with speed regulator. (2) D.C. shunt wound motor. (3)
Bearing housing. (4) Torque hanger. (5) Load hanger.

3.0320
2.6670

 The eect of sliding distance consequently sliding

time on tribological behaviour.
 The eect of load on tribological behaviour.
 The eect of velocity on tribological behaviour.
 The eect of temperature on tribological behaviour.

0.4024
16.622

The following aspects were investigated in the experiments, for moderate and very slow speeds:

7.2305
20.251

2.2. Aim of the experiments

WM-2
WM-5

The apparatus used for tribological studies is illustrated in Fig. 1. Dierent pressure values were achieved
by using dierent loads and dierent velocities were obtained by a speed regulator which allows speeds up to
1900 rpm. The temperatures of the friction surfaces were
measured by the thermometer placed at 3.5-mm beneath
the surface of the bearing housing.

0.0072
0.0178

2.1. Experimental apparatus

A. Zeren et al. / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 318323

2.3. Materials and experimental conditions

In the experimental set up used, the shaft was made
of AISI 440C stainless steel and bearings were made of
tin-based white metal. The chemical analysis of bearing
materials is given in Table 3. The relative bearing clearance was 3 10 3 as shown in Fig. 2. Hardness of specimens is represented in Table 4.
2.3.1. Results of the experiments
In Fig. 3, variation of friction torque with sliding distance is presented for the tin-based bearing alloys used
AA SECTION
Thermometer hole
Dept: 3.5 mm

321

in the experiments. For high sliding distances (above

50,000 m), friction torque appears to be almost constant
and this constant value is higher for both of the alloys
higher for WM-2.
The amount of wear was determined using the weight
loss measured by a Scaltec balance. Fig. 4 shows which
wear increases linearly with sliding distance for both alloys. As given in Table 4, WM-5 is harder than WM-2
and consequently wear is 50% lower in this alloy. This
indicates that service life of WM-5 will be doubled with
respect to the conventional WM-2. Thus, one can conclude that, use of WM-5 will be more advantageous
since labour and material cost and also machine down
time will be lowered.
Fig. 5 shows the relationship between friction coecient and sliding distance for two dierent bearing
alloys. It can be seen from the gure, that friction coefcient is approximately constant for sliding distances

WM-2
WM-5

10

Weight loss (gr)

Fig. 2. Technical drawing of bearing used in the tests.

Table 4
Hardness and wear in dry sliding of tested materials

-20000

Materials

Hardness (HB)

Wear in dry friction (g)

WM-2
WM-5

40.5
61.8

10.18
6.45

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000 120000 140000

Sliding Distance (m)

Bearing Load : 115 N, Shaft Speed : 750 rpm
Fig. 4. Relationship between weight loss and sliding distance.

WM-2
WM-5

WM-2
WM-5
1400

0.6

0.5

1000

Friction Coefficient

Friction Torque (Nmm)

1200

800
600
400
200

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
-200
0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

Sliding Distance (m)

(Bearing Load : 115 N, Shaft Speed : 750 rpm)

Fig. 3. Relationship between friction torque and sliding distance.

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

Sliding Distance (m)

Bearing Load : 115 N. Shaft Speed 750 rpm

Fig. 5. Relationship between friction coecient and sliding distance.

322

A. Zeren et al. / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 318323

over 50,000 m, and this constant value is higher for

WM-2.
Fig. 6 illustrates the relationship between friction
coecient and shaft speed. The friction coecient remains constant up to 1400 rpm and then sharply
decreases at this speed. This result indicates that both
of these materials can be used at high shaft speeds for
a long time without a signicant wear and change in
bearing tolerances. This is an important property for engines used in automotive and hydro-electric industry.
Fig. 7 represents relationship between friction coecient and bearing load. As expected, friction coecient
increased with increasing bearing load for both
materials.
The microstructure of the alloys that were used in the
experimental study was investigated by light microscope
to understand the tribological behaviour better. The alloys were prepared by metallographical techniques and
etched with Nital after polishing. The micrographs
shown in Figs. 8 and 9 belong to the alloys WM-2 and
WM-5, respectively.

Fig. 8. Microstructure of WM-2, 500, etched with Nital.

WM-2
WM-5

0.46

Friction Coefficient

0.44

0.42

0.40

0.38

0.36

0.34

Fig. 9. Microstructure of WM-5, 500, etched with Nital.

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Shaft Speed (rpm)

Fig. 6. Relationship between friction coecient and shaft speed.

As seen in Fig. 8, the Cu6Sn5 intermettallics are distributed in the Sn matrix and have characteristic large
star shapes that can be easily identied [1]. The SbSn
intermetallics are small white precipitate, dispersed in
the solid solution.
In Fig. 9, the SbSn cubics are clearly identied in the
Sn matrix. These cubics are not observed in alloys that
have Sb contents lower than 7.5% [1]. The higher hardness and better tribological properties of WM-5, compared to WM-2, are due to the presence and
homogeneous dispersion of these hard, sharp cornered
cubics, in the matrix.

0.445

WM-2
WM-5

0.440
0.435

Friction Coefficient

0.430
0.425
0.420
0.415
0.410
0.405
0.400
0.395
0.390

3. Conclusion

0.385
40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Bearing Load (N)

Fig. 7. Relationship between friction coecient and bearing load.

1. WM-2 and WM-5 alloys can be used in dry sliding

conditions.

A. Zeren et al. / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 318323

2. It is shown that performance of WM-5 under heavy

service conditions is better than WM-2 due to its
alloying elements.
3. The amount of wear in WM-5 is lower than WM-2
under similar tribological loading conditions. Thus,
service life of WM-5 is expected to be longer than
that of WM-2.
4. Increasing Sb content from 7.5% to 20% provided an
increase in hardness of WM-5.
5. Wear with respect to sliding distance is lower in WM5 alloy that has higher Sb content.
6. Friction coecient with respect to sliding distance is
lower in WM-5 alloy that has higher Sb content. This
result indicates lower metalmetal friction for bearing
and shaft materials and thus lower thermal eects in
the bearing. In the literature, seizure failure type of
Tin Babbitt bearings is Babbitt failure at critical temperatures [10]. Thus, materials having lower friction
coecient are preferred.
7. As shown in Fig. 6, for both alloys friction coecient
sharply decreases after shaft speed of 1400 rpm. So
both of these materials can be used at high shaft
speeds and WM-5 and WM-2 are suitable materials
for automotive industry.
8. WM group alloys are not new materials. These materials are known since 1800s. These bearing materials,
that are basically SbSnCu alloys, can be safely used

323

in a large variety of industrial applications, by adding

dierent alloying elements and providing the microstructural characterization.

References
[1] Lepper K, James M, Chashechkina J, Rigney DA. Sliding
behaviour of selected aluminum alloys. Wear 1997;203
204:4656.
[2] Booser E, Khonsari M. Applied tribology bearing design and
lubrication. NY: Wiley; 2001.
[3] Iliev H. Failure analysis of hydro-generator thrust bearing. Wear
1999;225229:9137.
[4] Tamura K, Ishihara S, Goshima T, Tachi Y. Eect of cyclic load
and sliding speed on sliding wear characteristics of a bearing lined
with WJ7 white metal. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part J J Eng Tribol
2004;218:2331.
[5] Neale MJ. Bearings: a tribology handbook. Scotland: Butterworth/Heinemann; 1993.
[6] Hamrock BJ. Fundamentals of uid lm lubrication. McGrawHill; 1994.
[7] Shigley JE, Mischke CR. Mechanical engineering design. Singapore: McGraw-Hill; 1989.
[8] Rigney DA. Comments on the sliding wear of metals. Tribol Int
1997;30(5):3617.
[9] Jacobson B. The Stribeck memorial lecture. Tribol Int
2003;36:7819.
[10] Wang Q. Seizure failure of journal bearing conformal contacts.
Wear 1997;210:816.