The influence on boundary friction of the permeability of sintered bronze

Components made of sintered bronze are often used in tribological systems. Examples of applications are self lubricated bearings, wet clutches and brakes and synchromesh components for manual gearboxes. The bronze material in these applications is often porous and permeable. However, the required level of permeability i.e., the ability for a fluid to flow inside the material varies widely for different applications. This implies the need to investigate if the permeability can influence the properties of a tribological system. Various studies have been performed in order to investigate the permeability of different materials but a possible relationship between permeability and boundary lubrication performance has not yet been thoroughly investigated. In this article this relationship has been investigated in a pin-on-disk apparatus for test specimens with a permeability that is well-defined. Materials with three different permeabilities were investigated together with non-permeable test specimens. The results indicate that permeability has a small influence on the friction coefficient when the tribological system is operating with good lubrication of the contact. The function of the tribological system when working under starved conditions is also investigated and a very clear relationship between permeability and the ability to cope up with starved running conditions is shown. This is explained in terms of the varying ability of the materials' to store lubricant in pores. Non-porous test specimens were also tested as a comparison with the permeable test specimens in the investigation with starved running conditions. The results show that a material with high permeability works much better under starved running conditions than that with low permeability.