A review: Enhancing tribological properties of journal bearings composite materials

Abstract

Tribology is the science of studying friction, wear, and lubrication. Composite materials consist of two or more constituents (phases): the discontinuous phase represents the reinforcement and the continuous phase represents the matrix. Journal bearing is manufactured from various composite materials. This article reviews the literature on improving the tribological properties of journal bearings made of composite materials (polymer matrix composite materials and metal matrix composite materials) by dividing the previous studies into six primary sections depending on the kinds of composite materials. An efficient method was utilized to solve the problems of composite journal bearings in water lubrication such as wear resistance, reduced friction, and increased service life of journal bearings in various applications especially in ships. The impact of composite materials, which were added through thermoplastic such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyether-ether-ketone, POM, and PA66, thermoset such as epoxy, polyester, and phenolic reinforced with fibers, and thermoplastic with thermoset (PTFE/epoxy composite) to reduce wear rate and coefficient of friction, and also the addition of nanomaterials to composite journal bearing to enhance the tribological properties in various applications were examined. The last section used metal matrix composite reinforced to other metal or alloy to give the attractive mechanical properties used to improve wear resistance and friction coefficient of journal bearing. The novelty of this article lies in the comprehensive analysis of various composite materials and their effect on the tribological properties of journal bearings, providing future insights into bearing design and optimization to improve performance.