Vesconite Marine Bearings and Bushings

Vesconite is a specialty thermoplastic material made from a self-lubricating polymer. Since the 1960s, it has proven to be an exceptional bearing material for harsh operating conditions, maintaining extremely low wear rates even in the presence of contaminants or under unlubricated conditions.

Vesconite Bushings Solve Numerous Maintenance and Operational Challenges in the Industrial Sector

Vesconite is a high-quality bushing material designed to deliver long service life and low maintenance requirements.

Vesconite offers significant advantages to designers and maintenance personnel seeking wear-resistant materials that adapt to modern operating and maintenance practices.

Some of the advantages of Vesconite include:

Reduced maintenance requirements, leading to lower costs

Extended service life of bearings, shafts, and related equipment, resulting in cost savings

Improved reliability of critical equipment

Ensures safe and environmentally friendly operation

No need for grease replenishment

Reduced shaft wear

Self-lubricating

Long service life

Low friction

Superior performance compared to bronze

Suitable for humid environments

Superior performance compared to nylon

No swelling or softening

High load-bearing capacity

Chemical resistance

Good dimensional stability

No creep (stick-slip) behavior

No delamination

Suitable for harsh/contaminated environments

Use Vesconite in the following situations:

When a long service life is required

When high loads must be withstood with minimal clearance

In dirty operating environments

When regular lubrication is not possible or not feasible at all

In damp or underwater environments

When health or environmental concerns are a priority

When a long service life is required for shafts or pins

When chemical corrosion is a concern

When cost reduction is desired

Vesconite gives excellent savings over its installed life cycle. Vesconite offers many advantages over traditional bearing materials. More.

Internally lubricated

Vesconite has built in lubricants which give a low friction and long life even when greasing does not frequently occur.

Wear resistance

Vesconite provides outstanding wear resistance, resulting in many times longer service life when compared with bronze. It is also less affected by poor lubrication and dirty conditions.

High load bearing strength

Vesconite has very low creep rates and is suited to design loadings up to 30 MPa (4275 psi). It has a much higher load capacity than nylon, and its compressive strength and clearances are not affected by water absorption.

Dimensional stability

Vesconite does not swell when exposed to water or humid conditions, while nylon can swell up to 3% when immersed.

The thermal expansion factor of Vesconite is only 2.5 times that of bronze. Nylon is 5 times greater and UHMWPE is 10 times greater than Vesconite.

Vesconite therefore needs only slightly more clearance than the corresponding metal parts. No allowance needs to be made for moisture changes in most applications.

Low friction

Vesconite has outstanding dynamic friction, with a friction coefficient of less than half that of bronze or nylon. This allows for higher combinations of loads and speeds.

Greasing of Vesconite bushes on assembly further decreases friction, allowing higher speeds to be used and generally improving performance.

Water is an excellent lubricant for Vesconite, making Vesconite ideal for many immersed applications.

Vesconite Hilube offers even further reduced friction (down by 50%), making it an ideal material for unlubricated applications.

Temperature limits

Vesconite is suitable for continuous use at 100º to 120°C (212º to 248°F) in dry conditions and 60° to 70°C (140° to 158°F) in wet conditions.

Longer life of shafts and pins

The wear of metal pins and shafts is reduced by as much as 90% when Vesconite bushes are used. The high cost of replacing expensive shafts and pins can often be saved. This valuable benefit alone justifies the change over to Vesconite in many applications.

Chemical resistance

Vesconite is resistant to dilute and moderate acids, organic solvents, oils and petroleum. It has limited resistance to strong acids and alkalis. Lengthy immersion in boiling water should be avoided. See the Vesconite Chemical Resistance Chart for details.

Easy to machine

Vesconite machines easily on wood working and metal working equipment, such as lathes, milling machines, bandsaws, drilling machines, planers, spindle moulders and routers.

Stock sizes

The Vesconite stock range includes hundreds of sizes of machineable rods, bushings, plates, finished bushes, discs, washers and ready to use parts.

If you need to know a stock size visit Stock Finder

The Vesconite stock range includes:

Rods from 8 to 135 mm diameter (0.32" to 5.5").

Bushings available up to 730 mm (26") diameter.

Plates standard from 3 to 50 mm thick (0.12" to 1.97").

Custom components made at request.

Applications

Vesconite bushes are ideal for many demanding applications.

These include

• High load, low speed applications in earthmoving, construction, materials handling, mining, cranes and hoists, transport and much more.

• Wet or immersed applications in pumps, marine, hydro, valves and water processing plants.