Chances are you’re familiar with our ToughMet^® 3 alloy - many of our customers have benefitted from using it in very challenging applications like oil and gas exploration tooling and aerospace and heavy equipment bearings. It is the premium material choice that offers the low friction of a bearing bronze and the strength of steel with better corrosion resistance than either bronze or steel.

In the energy and aerospace markets, there are material requirements for which the wrought tempers of ToughMet 3 alloy are the only copper alloy options. For heavy equipment bushings and bearings, however, nearly any alloy/temper combination from the ToughMet alloy family will provide the same high performance benefits and will outperform traditional material options. This is why we are are now offering our ToughMet 2 alloy for use in heavy equipment applications. It is a cost-effective material that offers the same performance as ToughMet 3 alloy when used in heavy equipment bushings and bearings. ToughMet 2 and ToughMet 3 alloys both give our customers a material solution with high strength, low friction and resistance to galling, corrosion and wear, but in most plain bearing applications, ToughMet 2 material provides the best value: improved performance over conventional materials at an affordable price.

THE TOUGHMET ALLOY ADVANTAGE

All of the ToughMet alloy family offers advantages when used in heavy duty bearings. Here are just a few of the most notable benefits: 

• Productivity: Increased productivity enables more tons per hour, more load capacity and a decreased need for lubrication.
• Availability: Increased availability enables more hours of uptime per year and longer pin and bushing life.
• Reliability: Increased reliability prevents surprises and provides a more predictable life and maintenance schedule and better durability and resistance to abuse.

TOUGHMET 2 CX90 MATERIAL OFFERS THE SAME HIGH PERFORMANCE BENEFITS AS TOUGHMET 3 CX105 ALLOY

It’s clear that both of our ToughMet materials can improve performance, but you may be wondering—how exactly do ToughMet 2 and 3 alloys differ? Based on bushing testing and field experience, ToughMet 2 CX90 alloy offers identical bearing performance as that of ToughMet 3 CX105 - the temper of ToughMet alloy traditionally used in plain sleeve, thrust or linear bearings. It is created using our EquaCast® technology, and process improvements have enabled higher yields and improved efficiencies during production. ToughMet 2 alloys have a similar level of corrosion resistance to ToughMet 3 alloys in most environments but with a higher thermal conductivity that protects bushing and bearing lubricants. ToughMet 2 CX90 is slightly lower in both hardness and friction than ToughMet 3, making the wear resistance of the two nearly indistinguishable under most conditions. Also, because of the lower coefficient of friction, ToughMet 2 alloy offers improved machinability. 

The chart below outlines the strength, elongation, hardness and elastic modulus for common bronze bearing alloys so that you can see how ToughMet 2 alloy stacks up against conventional materials. Check out the difference for yourself!

While ToughMet 2 alloy offers the exact same performance as ToughMet 3 CX105 in the applications that we just discussed, please note that aerospace and oil and gas specs demand the specific properties associated with the wrought tempers of ToughMet 3 material.