Little Known Facts Affecting Teflon ^® Fabric Bearing Life

The use of woven Teflon^®* fibers to make self-lubricated bearings had its inception during the middle 1950’s. State-of-the-art has been to upgrade the bearings by using fiber blends to improve bonding, reliability, and adhesives for load capacity. But little attention has been made to the effects of the mating surface. These factors, such as finish characteristics, corrosion caused by the environment, and platings are as important as the bearing itself.

Analysis of the mating surface is necessary if engineers are going to properly design maintenance-free equipment using high load capacity self-lubricated bearings.