Federal-Mogul Gaining Market Share With Aluminum Engine Bearings

Federal-Mogul Corporation (USA) said it has been successfully moving both its OEM and aftermarket engine parts customers toward widespread adoption of aluminum engine bearing technology. Sealed Power is F-M's engine bearing division; its aluminum bearing product line is marketed as the A Series. Although aluminum-based engine bearings have been around for decades, Federal-Mogul began its push with a breakthrough aluminum-silicon formulation it introduced in 2002. Already, new passenger car engines, particularly from Asian and European automakers, are adopting the latest generation of aluminum engine bearings, replacing thinwall main and rod bearings of traditional bimetal and trimetal copper/lead construction. The silicon component provides the key improvement in surface hardness. The silicon also provides other benefits, such as polishing the crank surface during operation, in a cycle that further reduces wear and heat by reducing friction. On the downside of that hardness is less tolerance ("embeddability") for contaminants. For bearing manufacturers, the cost of producing aluminum bearings has come down significantly, and they eliminate the environmental issues with the lead content found in traditional bimetal and trimetal bearings. Because aluminum bearings can tolerate temperatures over 1,000¡ãF, they provide a wider operating temperature range, particularly important in newer engine designs. While OEM engines are rapidly switching to aluminum bearings, aftermarket demand is still strongest for traditional trimetal copper/lead bearings. Aluminum bearings are less forgiving, an important characteristic for the aftermarket where parts are often less than perfect, operating conditions are not as clean and tight as OEM conditions, and the loads are likely to be higher from a performance rebuild. And although the aluminum is stronger, those bearings require different assembly setups, working best in an engine designed for aluminum bearings -- with larger load-bearing areas, improved oil flow and oil filtering. The latest generation of aluminum engine bearings are sized by boring with a rotating mill rather than being broached by a stationary head. Boring not only produces tighter tolerances, but also results in a circular swirl finish which improves the aluminum bearing's oil retention. Boring moves material in the direction it will see under load, which helps maximize bearing life under real-world operating conditions. Raymond King, Director of Underhood and Wheel-end Marketing at F-M, said, "Engine builders simply can't ignore the benefits of this new technology, and their suppliers are seeing the industry shift toward more advanced materials. We're pleased to be several years ahead of our competitors with respect to this technology and our engineers continue to refine our aluminum-silicon formulations and proprietary bearing design characteristics."