Antifriction alloy is an alloy material with low friction coefficient. People are used to calling the non-ferrous alloy materials used for manufacturing sliding bearings (bearing shells) antifriction alloys or sliding bearing alloys.

First, the origin of antifriction alloy

Tin bronze is the earliest alloy used by mankind, with a history of about 4000 years. It has the characteristics of corrosion resistance, wear resistance, good mechanical and technological properties, good welding and brazing properties, and no spark when impacted; The use of tin bronze as antifriction parts and sliding bearings can be traced back to the industrial revolution in the middle of18th century.

The concept of bearing alloy was first put forward by American I. Babbitt. 1839, Babbitt invented tin-based alloy and lead-based alloy to make sliding bearings, and called tin-based antifriction alloy and lead-based antifriction alloy Babbitt. Later, people in the industry usually refer to copper-based antifriction alloys and babbitt alloys used to manufacture sliding bearings as bearing alloys.

Sliding bearing alloys such as copper-based antifriction alloy, tin-based antifriction alloy and lead-based antifriction alloy are also called traditional antifriction alloys in today's industry.

Second, develop new antifriction alloys.

1930 On the eve of World War II, in order to solve the problem of shortage and high cost of copper resources, Germany began to look for substitutes for tin bronze, lead brass and babbitt alloy, and began to study a new generation of sliding bearing alloys.

1935, after nearly five years of research in Germany, it was found that the mechanical properties and antifriction properties of cast zinc-based alloys and cast aluminum-based alloys can surpass those of copper-based alloys and babbitt alloys.

1938, Germany successfully used cast zinc-based alloy instead of tin bronze and aluminum bronze, and cast aluminum-based alloy instead of babbitt alloy to manufacture bearing (sleeve) products, which were equipped on military tanks and automobiles, and achieved good results.

During the period from 1939 to 1943 "World War II", the total annual usage of cast zinc-based alloys and cast aluminum-based alloys in Germany soared from 7,800 tons to 49,000 tons, which attracted great attention and attention of international lead-zinc organizations.

From 65438 to 0959, the members of the international lead-zinc organization jointly launched a scientific research project called "LONG-S Plan", aiming at developing a new generation of antifriction alloys with higher performance and longer service life than copper-based alloys and babbitt alloys. In this plan, the antifriction alloy being developed is called long-s metal.

During the period of 196 1- 1963, the member units of the international lead-zinc organization took the lead in developing aluminum-based long s metal antifriction alloys, with brands AS7, AS 12 and AS20. Aluminum-based alloys AS7 and AS 12 were first used in automobiles to replace the traditional copper-based alloy bearing pads, which greatly improved the high-speed performance of automobiles and promoted the rapid development of automobile industry. After that, Al-based alloy AS20 was applied to large and medium-sized motors, steam turbines, water turbines, industrial pumps, blowers, compressors and other high-speed, medium and low-load working conditions, replacing the traditional Babbitt alloy and promoting the rapid development of equipment manufacturing.

In the early 1970s, Norand Mines Limied Research Center in Canada cooperated with Zastern Company in the United States to develop zinc-based long S metal antifriction alloys ZA8, ZA 12, ZA27, etc. And ZA27 antifriction alloy is applied to low-speed and heavy-duty workplaces such as rolling mills, presses, gear boxes, coal mills, air conditioners and precision machine tools. Completely replace the traditional copper-based alloy antifriction materials.

The appearance of a new generation of long S metal antifriction alloy has attracted great attention from international users. Many industrialized countries have invested more manpower and material resources in the research and development of long S metal, and dozens of companies in the United States alone have developed aluminum-based and zinc-based antifriction alloys of long S metal.

Because of its excellent antifriction and good economy, Long -s metal has been rapidly popularized in the manufacturing field, completely replacing traditional antifriction alloys such as copper-based alloy and babbitt alloy, and has strong market competitiveness.

Later, people called long-s metal bearing alloy a new type of antifriction alloy.

Mr. Bess, the technical consultant of Zastern Company in the United States, pointed out in the article introducing the "long-s Plan" that the purpose of developing economical long-s metal antifriction alloys is not only to replace traditional bearing alloys where they are competent, but more importantly, to apply Long-S metal to copper-based alloys and babbitt alloys where the strength and wear resistance cannot meet the requirements through LONG-S technology.

According to Mr. Bess's prediction at that time, "Dragon -s metal antifriction alloy will develop greatly in the near future, and its production scale and sales market will expand rapidly, and the 2 1 century will be the heyday of Dragon -s metal."

Third, the development of new antifriction alloys in China.

Because both the new long-s metal and the traditional Babbitt alloy can be used to manufacture sliding bearings, and the manufacturing cost is much lower than Babbitt alloy, long-s metal is transliterated as "dragon alloy" in China, which is called a new antifriction alloy in the industry, and more people are used to calling it a new bearing alloy.

1982, Shenyang Foundry Research Institute, the national foundry technology center, introduced the long S metal ZA27 zinc-based alloy in American ASTM B79 1- 1979 standard. After nearly two years of digestion and absorption, a new domestic zinc-based ZA27 bearing alloy was developed, and the national standard code was ZA27-2, which marked the beginning of the development of a new antifriction alloy in China.

65438-0985 was initiated by Ms. Chen Shuzhi, then vice governor of Liaoning Province, and supported by relevant leaders of Shenyang Foundry Research Institute. Shenyang Bearing Materials Research Institute, composed of technical elites of Shenyang Foundry Research Institute, was established to introduce foreign advanced dragon -s metal technology and promote the development and popularization of domestic "dragon alloy" technology.

199 1 year, on the basis of zinc-based ZA27-2 alloy, Shenyang bearing materials research institute developed a high aluminum zinc-based ZA303 alloy for the first time, which solved the shortcoming of high brittleness of ZA27-2 at low temperature, and passed the scientific and technological achievements appraisal of Shenyang science and technology commission that year. Since then, the technology of "dragon alloy" has been widely spread and exchanged in domestic universities and scientific research units.

Fourthly, antifriction alloy has entered the era of "microcrystalline alloy"

1in July, 990, the first international nanotechnology conference was held in Baltimore, USA, which marked the formal birth of nanotechnology and officially declared that nanomaterials science became a new branch of materials science.

From 65438 to 0999, nanotechnology entered the market, and the global annual turnover of products based on nanotechnology reached 50 billion US dollars. Some countries have formulated relevant strategies or plans and invested huge sums of money to seize the strategic highland of nanotechnology. Japan has set up a research center for nanomaterials, which has incorporated nanotechnology into the research and development focus of the new five-year science and technology basic plan; Germany has established a nanotechnology research network; The United States regards the nano plan as the core of the next industrial revolution; China also listed nanotechnology as China's "973 Plan".

200 1 originated from a branch of nanotechnology-micro-nano application technology. Micro-nano application technology in developed countries has been applied to the field of basic materials, and amazing achievements have been made, especially many micro-nano micro-alloy materials, which are having a far-reaching impact on human beings and completely changing people's way of thinking.

Microcrystalline alloy is an alloy material whose grain is refined to micron level. Alloys with such ultra-fine grains can show extremely excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, over-dimensional stability and wear resistance in a special aspect.

In 2005, China Micro-Nano Technology Society was formally established, which marked the beginning of micro-nano application technology in China, and stood on the same starting line with developed countries in meeting the personalized demand of functional materials.

Researchers from the member units of China Micro-Nano Technology Society applied micro-nano technology to the field of special antifriction alloy materials, and successively developed micro-alloy materials with special requirements for some individual properties, such as light magnesium-based micro-alloy for aero-engines, nickel-based micro-alloy with high temperature resistance and silver-based micro-alloy with high reliability. Special microcrystalline bearing materials not only fill the gap of antifriction materials in China, but also keep pace with the development of microcrystalline alloy technology in the world in terms of individual properties of materials.

In 2009, experts from Shenyang Institute of Metals, Shenyang Institute of Foundry, Northeastern University, Shenyang Gong Li University and other micro-nano technology application research fields carried out joint research in Industry-University-Research. A set of combined melting and casting processes (commonly known as triple melting process), such as microalloying treatment and low temperature quenching, has been developed, and the preparation of economical microcrystalline alloys has been realized. At present, four kinds of economical microcrystal alloy materials have been produced in batches in China, including microcrystal alloy LZA3805 with ultra-low friction coefficient, microcrystal alloy LZA4008 with large PV value, microcrystal alloy LZA4205 with ultra-wear resistance and microcrystal alloy LZA45 10 with good impact resistance.

Microcrystalline alloys can meet the special requirements of single performance, which is an important symbol different from traditional ordinary antifriction alloys. It provides a powerful guarantee for the equipment manufacturing industry to realize customized production of antifriction materials, meet the personalized needs of equipment manufacturing, and realize high efficiency, high precision, high reliability and low cost of equipment manufacturing.

A series of antifriction products made of 20 10 microcrystalline alloy, such as bearing bush, shaft sleeve, worm wheel, slide plate and nut, have been successfully applied to forging equipment manufacturing, CNC machine tool manufacturing, gear box manufacturing, heavy mining equipment manufacturing and construction machinery manufacturing.

Microcrystalline alloy products have successfully replaced traditional antifriction alloys and new antifriction alloy products, with high reliability and stability, and achieved good social and huge economic benefits, marking that antifriction alloys in China have entered the age of microcrystal alloys!

—— Excerpted from Liaoning High-tech Popular Science Publicity Month.

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