Located in South Yorkshire and formed in 1988, Advanced Composite Material (ACM) Bearings Ltd is a leading manufacturer of composite materials; developing, manufacturing, supplying and supporting the application of these advanced materials into a wide range of markets including marine, hydropower, hydraulics, rail, offshore, and construction.
self-lubricating, low friction
Recently rebranded as ACM Composite Bearings, the composites offered are resin bonded, fabric reinforced self-lubricating materials with properties tailored to differing environments and operational requirements.
The ACM Composite Bearings range of materials exhibit low friction, low wear, high compressive strength and very low moisture absorption; encompassing speciality high temperature, very low friction, chemical resistant and extra high strength variations. These materials are designed specifically to replace traditional metal based bearings, to give low wear and therefore longer life together with other technical advantages.
In most cases the application of ACM’s non-metallic materials can eliminate the requirement for regular lubrication.
ACM L2 Marine
ACM L2 Marine is a grade of material developed and manufactured by ACM Composites that has been specifically formulated for the marine environment. ACM L2 Marine has been successfully installed on thousands of vessels around the world. It is, of course, approved for rudder applications and indeed is the only composite material approved to operate as a rudder bearing in wet and dry conditions at bearing pressures up to 10 MPa
ACM Composites has extensive experience supplying L2 Marine bearings and other composite materials for the marine and offshore industry in a wide range of applications including rudder and steering gear, water lubricated propeller shaft bearings, anchor handling systems, cranes, life boat systems, winches, stern roller bearings, offshore moorings and many more.
fit and forget bearing solutions
With virtually zero swell in water and very low thermal expansion coefficients, ACM L2 Marine is ideally suited to the operating conditions and working environment of rudder and pintle bearings which can be either water, oil, grease lubricated or under dry conditions. The material was developed to give improved performance, longer life, non-lubricated operation and a maintenance free ‘fit and forget’ bearing solution.
ACM L2 Marine has been tested and approved for stern tube bearing applications and has been proven to offer superior performance in terms of wear, extended life and low shaft wear over other water lubricated propeller shaft bearing materials. It is for these reasons that many navies use ACM material for their stern shaft bearings.
environmentally friendly
With increasing environmental and legislative pressure to control release of oils and greases into coastal seas and inland waterways, ACM L2 Marine offers an excellent solution – able to run dry in most applications and with water lubrication in others. ACM materials and indeed all ACM Composite Bearings materials suffer zero compatibility issues with environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs) and enable vessel owners to comply with Vessel General Permit (VGP) regulations.
The marine and offshore markets are just one area of application for ACM materials and in addition to its class leading L2 Marine, ACM offer a wide range of materials for other industries and environments.
ACM TriboTex
In conjunction with the companies rebrand, the new Tribo-prefixed brand names for ACM Composite Bearings engineering materials are another step forward for the company, but rather than revolution they are an evolution of their existing well known grade designations; aiming to be familiar to existing customers.
The ACM TriboTex 3 range was specifically developed for low to medium load bearing and slide pad applications for excavation and construction equipment, bush bearings for quarry machinery, and slide pads for logistics handling equipment
The ACM TriboTex 7 range of materials is the companies’ most popular and trusted range with applications in almost every environment when tailored with the correct additives. It has been successfully applied across all industries, including anchor handling systems, stern rollers, turbine bearings, wicket gates, tidal power generation, fish locks, spherical bearings and lock gates.
TriboTex 7 is proving to be the ideal material for pump bearings with a prominent manufacture specifying this material for all of its vertical pumps; including upper, lower and intermediate bearings with diameters ranging from 50 mm up to 400 mm.
A leading hydropower equipment manufacturer has scored ACM TriboTex 7 material first in an intensive and comprehensive comparative test against four competitor materials.
ACM TriboTemp
When it comes to high temperature applications, the ACM TriboTemp range of composite materials can operate up to 200°C; TriboTemp 10 incorporates modern aramid fabrics and a speciality resin to give improved temperature performance whilst retaining the low friction properties of the standard TriboTex range.
ACM TriboTemp 20 takes a different approach, utilising a relatively low tech natural fibre to cope with temperatures up to 180°C continuously or 200°C intermittently and has applications as diverse as steel mills, nuclear power plants, palm oil processing and rail.
ACM TriboTough
The ACM TriboTough 10 range uses further cloth advancements to provide the same improved temperature performance of TriboTemp 10 in conjunction with the highest compressive strength of any polyester based composite.
ACM TriboChem
Whilst the standard materials are compatible with most mediums, ACM TriboChem 11 materials offer improved resistance against extremes of alkali or acid levels over other grades in the ACM range.
ACM TriboGlide
Another popular, well proven and successful material, the ACM TriboGlide 15 range of materials offers the lowest dry running friction of the ACM Composite Bearings range, with coefficients as low as 0.04 possible.
This material is generally used in conjunction with TriboTex 7 which provides the bulk of the bearing and contributes the mechanical properties, whilst the TriboGlide 15 provides the low friction running surface.
ACM TriboGlide materials are very successful in offshore applications, such as launch systems, tow pins, winches, cranes, anchor handling and mooring systems and also in hydropower applications such as guide vane bearings, main turbine bearings and packages.
ACM TriboGuide & TriboTape
ACM TriboGuide materials are used for standard wear rings for use as rod and piston guides for medium to heavy duty hydraulic cylinders. The range includes both polyester and cotton phenolic composites.
ACM TriboTape materials are used to manufacture standard bearing strips which are intended to form large wear rings. Lengths of 5 m long enable cylinder diameters in excess of 1.5 m to be fitted in just one complete wear ring.
leading edge projects
Despite being a medium sized business, ACM do not shy away from large projects and large bearings.
There seems no limit to the size of vessels being designed and constructed; these ultra large vessels require large rudders for which ACM are one of the few manufacturers able to produce and machine material of sufficient size. Currently, bearings over 1.4 m in diameter with a mass of more than 500 kg are regularly supplied to South Korean shipyards by ACM Composites.
Recently ACM have proudly supplied over 300 bushes and pads comprising 45 differing designs to a complex ship borne monopile gripper. The impressive 450 tonne gripper is used to mount wind turbine monopiles and stabilise them during construction of the turbines. That first vessel is now in operation with a further gripper under construction.
record breaking
The Chinese Jialong Hao ‘Flood Dragon’ is a record breaking deep diving 8 m, 22 tonne titanium hulled submersible that utilises ACM bearings for its impellors. The vessel has dived to over 7,000 m below sea level.
ongoing development
ACM Composite Bearings have on-site testing equipment including a 100 mm shaft diameter reciprocating test rig and a 50 mm journal test rig, together with a flexible approach to product development which enable ACM to rapidly try out new concepts.
