Friction Losses in Automotive Plain Bearings - A Practical and Theoretical Study

The power absorbed in the plain bearings of a small gasoline engine has been measured as a proportion of the total power lost to mechanical inefficiencies in the engine. A calculation procedure is described, by which means viscous friction in a plain bearing may be estimated. It is observed, that whilst the losses in plain bearings are small when compared to the other mechanical inefficiencies, they do represent an area where certain improvements are possible.