New Type Fatigue Phenomenon of Aluminum-Based Engine Bearings

Heavily-loaded engine bearings in recent years have frequently utilized aluminum-tin-silicon alloy which does not require overlay. It has been found that some special fatigue damage may occur in these aluminum alloys under certain heavy-load application. A microscopic examination of such fatigue revealed a structural change inside the aluminum alloy.

In this paper such fatigue phenomenon was studied in detail and reproduction tests were carried out on the bearing test machines. As a result, we have developed a new high-strength aluminum alloy which can prevent such fatigue damage.