Graphalloy is the trademark for a group of

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typi ...

-impregnated

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on la ...

materials. The materials are commonly used for self-lubricating

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 roll ...

s or

electrical contact An electrical contact is an electrical circuit component found in electrical switches, relays, connectors and circuit breakers. Each contact is a piece of electrically conductive material, typically metal. When a pair of contacts touch, they ...

s. They are proprietary materials owned by the Graphite Metallizing Corp. based in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...

, USA.

Construction

When the metal is impregnated in the graphite it forms long continuous filaments. These are what gives the material its

ductility Ductility is a mechanical property commonly described as a material's amenability to drawing (e.g. into wire). In materials science, ductility is defined by the degree to which a material can sustain plastic deformation under tensile str ...

strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human ca ...

, and

heat dissipation All electronic devices and circuitry generate excess heat and thus require thermal management to improve reliability and prevent premature failure. The amount of heat output is equal to the power input, if there are no other energy inter ...

properties.

Types

There are many types of Graphalloy because the graphite can be impregnated with many different metals.

Applications

Graphalloy is used in applications where high and low temperatures are encountered,

grease Grease may refer to: Common uses * Grease (lubricant), a type of industrial lubricant * Grease, any petroleum or fat (including cooking fat) that is a soft solid at room temperature ** Brown grease, waste vegetable oil, animal fat, grease, e ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

is not feasible, expulsion of wear particles is prohibited, or in dusty, submerged, or

corrosive A corrosive substance is one that will damage or destroy other substances with which it comes into contact by means of a chemical reaction. Etymology The word ''corrosive'' is derived from the Latin verb ''corrodere'', which means ''to gnaw'', ...

environments. It is non-corrosive in

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic ...

jet fuel Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial a ...

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

s, bleaches, caustics,

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

liquefied gas Liquefied gas (sometimes referred to as liquid gas) is a gas that has been turned into a liquid by cooling or compressing it. Examples of liquefied gases include liquid air, liquefied natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas. Liquid air At the ...

es, acids, and many more chemicals. It is not used in highly

abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

applications. Common applications include bushings/bearings for

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids ( liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method the ...

s, bleaching and washing tanks,

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

industrial dryer Industrial dryers are used to efficiently process large quantities of bulk materials that need reduced moisture levels. Depending on the amount and the makeup of material needing to be dried, industrial dryers come in many different models constru ...

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turb ...

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

cryogenics In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

. It is also used as bearing in applications where

electrical conduction Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows ...

is necessary. It is used in when high frequency current degrades ball or

needle bearing A needle roller bearing is a special type of roller bearing which uses long, thin cylindrical rollers resembling needles. Ordinary roller bearings' rollers are only slightly longer than their diameter, but needle bearings typically have rollers ...

s. Examples of applications include

packaging machine Packaging machinery is used throughout all packaging operations, involving primary packages to distribution packs. This includes many packaging processes: fabrication, cleaning, filling, sealing, combining, labeling, overwrapping, palletizing. ...

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

joints, and

welding Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as br ...

equipment.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.graphalloy.com/ Composite materials Bearings (mechanical)