Babbitt Bearings: Material Characteristics, Working Mechanism, Classification and Industrial Application Solutions
Rolling bearings occupy dominant market share in general machinery, yet heavy-duty rotating equipment such as turbines, large generators, industrial pumps and blowers still rely heavily on fluid film sliding bearings lined with Babbitt metal. Babbitt bearings, also known as white metal bearings, represent a core type of plain bearing defined by lining material rather than structural form. Since Isaac Babbitt invented Babbitt alloy in 1839, this soft bearing alloy has been widely adopted in heavy industry for its outstanding conformability, embeddability and anti-galling performance.