Bearing Up In Marine Environments

Federal-Mogul Powertrain has received DNV GL certification of its premium self-lubricating deva.tex 552 Marine bearing material. The deva.tex 552 Marine bearing material is constructed using a composite that the company said will not corrode, reduces weight, lowers friction and slows wear rates while still matching the load rates — dynamic load capacity is 140 MPa, static is 230 MPa — of many metallic materials.

As the marine industry seeks lower and more consistent friction levels from self-lubricated bearings, deva.tex 552 provides a solution which inspires a move away from traditional metal bearings towards composite materials.

“We are delighted to receive validation of deva.tex 552 technology in the form of certification from DNV GL,” said Gian Maria Olivetti, chief technology officer, Federal-Mogul Powertrain. “deva.tex 552 Marine is the first composite bearing material in the world with such a complex test matrix under offshore conditions.”

As part of the certification process, specialist facilities at the University of Ghent in Belgium were used to evaluate the deva.tex 552 material under different load and running conditions in various configurations and with the effects of contamination considered. Underwater tests were carried out at various loads and sliding speeds to validate wear rates, friction levels and durability. The entire manufacturing process, from qualification of the raw materials to the final product, was audited to ensure consistently high quality.

“Insurance and investment funding for a new marine project increasingly depends upon the use of approved materials throughout,” said Stefan de Goey, Federal-Mogul DEVA’s Offshore Marine & Dredge business development manager. “Offshore equipment and components must be independently certified for meeting regulatory requirements before they can be specified for installation and integration. Certification means we meet those requirements and can offer the benefits of a composite solution without the need for additional validation processes and time consuming additional testing.”

deva.tex 552 Marine is part of the Federal-Mogul DEVA product family, which offers high performance, self-lubricating bearing materials suitable for translatory, rotational and oscillating movements where conventional lubrication is not possible for submerged applications. Developed for applications requiring high load capacity with excellent durability, deva.tex 552 Marine’s construction is engineered to protect against underwater swell provide maximum-long term dimensional stability.

The deva.tex materials are glass fiber-reinforced composites, produced using a cross-winding technology. The base material delivers high strength, while the sliding layer contains nonabrasive fibers and solid lubricants designed to ensure excellent tribological properties, even in damp environments or under edge-loading conditions. The solid lubricants used within the matrix provide very low coefficients of friction and wear rates in both wet and dry running conditions, the company said.