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Plain Bearing Failure
5.0 Fretting
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5.1 Fretting in a Journal Bearing
5.2 Fretting at Tilting-Pad Pivot
5.3 Fretting Damage - Summary
Fretting is a form of adhesive wear; it occurs as the result of small scale oscillatory movement. There are three situations in which this can result in damage in plain bearings.
Fretting can occur at the contact of a journal in the bearing in a machine that is subject to external vibration. This causes a change in the bearing profile that can affect its performance. Secondly, fretting can also occur on the backs of bearing shells that are not given an adequate interference fit in the housing (see Section 10: Manufacturing and assembly errors). The third situation is at the contact between the pivots of tilting pads and the carrier, where the pads are subject to 'fluttering' through loading by a vibrating shaft.