To the group:

I ran across a very interesting coating called BAM on the internet.  The
friction of this coating is less than half that of Teflon.  "BAM is much
slipperier than Teflon, with a coefficient of friction of .02 compared
to .05. Lubricated steel has a friction coefficient of 0.16."  This was
discovered by accident at the US Dept of Energy Ames Laboratory in Iowa
in 1999.  "Its hardness was discovered by accident. We had a terrible
time cutting it, grinding it, or polishing it," says Alan Russell, a
materials scientist at Iowa State University in Ames.

Here are a couple links to get started:


_http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16102-material-slicker-than-teflon-discovered-by-accident.html_

_http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/11/tech-roundup-robot-population-forecast.html_


As I understand it, the material is plasma sprayed on cheaper steel and
could save a lot of mfg costs. It sounds like it can take high heat as
well.

Now the question:  Could this material be used on the rotary engine
bearings and turbocharger bearings to eliminate the need for lubrication
oil?  Maybe use high pressure air instead of oil?

What do you all think?

Norm DeBoer