Frelon is a

polytetrafluoroethylene Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has numerous applications. It is one of the best-known and widely applied PFAS. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Che ...

(PTFE) based material with other proprietary fillers to increase bearing characteristics, such as low

wear Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology. Wear in ...

, low

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding (motion), sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative la ...

, and high strength. It is

chemically inert In chemistry, the term chemically inert is used to describe a substance that is not chemically reactive. From a thermodynamic perspective, a substance is inert, or nonlabile, if it is thermodynamically unstable (positive standard Gibbs free ener ...

and self lubricating. It qualifies as a

class III plain bearing A plain bearing, or more commonly sliding contact bearing and slide bearing (in railroading sometimes called a solid bearing, journal bearing, or friction bearing), is the simplest type of bearing, comprising just a bearing surface and no rolli ...

. The load capacity of a frelon-lined bearing is typically four to eight times that of a comparable

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

; for instance, a Frelon-lined bearing can support the same load as a ball bearing.

Characteristics

Frelon creates a self-lubricating bearing surface by transferring some of the soft PTFE to the

shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

ing during the

running in Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

process. It is almost universally chemically inert; the only materials that attack it are molten

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...

and fluorine at elevated temperatures. It has a plain bearing pressure rating (P) of ; dry velocity rating (V) of 140 surface feet per minute (sfm) (0.71 m/s); and a PV rating of 10,000 psi sfm (0.35 MPa m/s). Additional lubrication can reduce friction and wear by 50%.

References

{{Reflist Bearings (mechanical) Fluoropolymers