Durobearing™ is the trademark used by Saver to identify its self-lubricating composite bearings and represents a technologically advanced and reliable solution for journal bearings.
Durobearing™ is composed of high-performance fibers and makes use of technology and processes developed directly by Saver to attain a mass-produced product with superior performance.
Self-lubricating composite bearings were developed in the 1950s and 1960s for outer space applications. The functioning of spacecraft and satellites must be reliable and maintenance-free.
In the 1990s major manufacturers begin using self-lubricating composite bearings, as they learnt of their particular properties; Today, composite plain bearings are a standard component for manufacturers of heavy industrial equipment and machines, agricultural equipment, and pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders.
Self-lubricating composite bearings have increasingly taken the place of metal bearings needing lubrication.
Durobearing™ is ideal for high load, low speed applications or where traditional lubrication is difficult, costly or harmful.
Here are just some of the industry applications for Durobearing™ :
Durobearing™ is filament-wound and impregnated with thermoset resins. This lightweight and efficient composite journal bearing features a Teflon™ liner (Teflon™ is a trademark of Du Pont de Nemour) and is characterized by a high load capability well-suited to handling frequent starts and stops. Its self-lubricating properties enable valid engineering.
Durobearing™ accommodates rotary, oscillatory and sliding motions and offers excellent reliability, including the following features and benefits:
Our basic service starts with initial customer contact that focuses on gaining an understanding of technical and business needs, along with environment and operating conditions where the bearing will be in use. Saver is experienced at coordinating the functional and business requirements to provide our composite bearings in a timely manner. Our technical department is at the disposal of the customer in evaluating how to best optimize all applications also proposing tailor-made solutions.
Saver’s collaboration with customers does not end with the installation of the bearing but continues through a team working together with the customer to explore all possible further optimizations.
Saver has its own technological laboratories for testing, inspecting and improving the product and its performance. Specialized equipment is used to subject the composite bearings to endurance and wear tests. The testing cycles may run in continuous rotation, in oscillation or in translation mode. We go up to dynamic loads of 50,000 kg (110,230 lbs.) and continuously measure the following parameters: Applied Load — Torque — Coefficient of Friction — Wear — Temperature.
The technology and equipment at our disposal enable us to realize our Durobearing® line according to customer requests and designs, not just in terms of non-standard diameters, but also where special shapes and bore configurations are concerned, for example:
To complete the range of bearings for different mechanical solutions, we have developed a series of spherical self-lubricating composite bearings with a steel ball joint inserted in the composite material lining. Using proprietary technology and the best inside liner, Saver has developed an articulated bearing with exceptional properties:
Recommended Shaft Characteristics for Optimal Performance:
Acceptable results may also be obtained with shafts having:
Durobearing™ has a special liner, giving it exceptional resistance to wear. Even after hundreds of thousands of cycles (with no lubricant) the condition of the bearing and shaft are still efficient. The chart below shows loss of thickness according to number of cycles.
Durobearing™ contains a Teflon® liner which offers the lowest coefficients of friction of any known fiber. Furthermore, the static coefficient of friction is hardly greater than the dynamic one, thus eliminating the phenomenon of stick-slip (see Engineering Data). With the elimination of stick-slip, Durobearing® allows for a reduction in vibrations and the break- away torque needed to set the shaft in motion, translating into an overall improvement in precision running.
Durobearing™ offers very high performance with specific materials that provide exceptional characteristics —structural robustness of the composite and a minimum coefficient of friction. It is worth noting that the coefficient of friction is lowered to a level of 0.01 with an increase in the applied load and/or temperature, as illustrated in the chart