There are bushings, and there are bearings. While the automotive industry and others may use the term interchangeably, a difference does exist, although the names given to bushings in the industry do not help clarify the situation. They are:
- Bushings
- Bush
- Plain Bearings
- Sleeve Bearings
Unlike typical bearings, bushings are independent components – designed as a single unit to perform their job of providing a bearing surface for reducing friction in rotary applications. A bronze bushing is one option manufacturers have.
Types of Bronze Bushing
The choice of bushing depends upon the intended application and its environment. While companies can choose sleeved, flanged, split and clenched styles, essentially, two basic types of bronze bushings are available. These are:
- Those that require lubrication
- Self-lubricating
The latter proves to be popular in certain industries and is advantageous for several reasons.
The Advantages of Self-Lubricating Bushings
The intent of self-lubricating bushings is to eliminate the need for any further form of lubrication for the life of the bushing. It involves pre-lubrication. The advantages include:
- Lowering maintenance results in decreased machinery and labor costs
- Decreased need for adding holes or grooves for the addition of an oiling system
- Removing the need to provide lubrication to the machinery ever
- Meeting the directives of various government agencies, reducing the need for oil use and helping the environment.
- Increasing the longevity of the equipment by reducing wear-and-tear
- Remove the need for replacing components requiring oiling where adding a lubricant is difficult or impossible.
Overall, self-lubricating bronze plain bearings can prove to be beneficial to the company and its operations.
Self-Lubricating Bronze Bushings
Bronze bushings can utilize lubricant indents to become self-lubricating plain bearings. Graphite plugged is another option. Whatever the choice, self-lubricating bushings offer several advantages over the conventional ones. Although initially more expensive, they will prove to be cost-effective in terms of life cycle and other ways.