Lead-free bearing alloys for engine applications results of the ESA-MAP project MONOPHAS

Recent developments to reduce fuel consumption, emission and air pollution, size and weight of engines for automotive, truck, ship propulsion and electrical power generation lead to temperature and load conditions within engines that cannot be provided by conventional bearings. Therefore a European project has been established to develop a technically usable aluminium based lead free bearing material with sufficient hardness, wear and friction properties and good corrosion resistance to be produced with semi-continuous casting process. The paper describes the scientific challenges, approaches to tackle the solidification and casting problems and presents some illustrative research results.