Ultrasonic Inspection of Babbitt Bearing Liners http://www.olympus-ims.

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Resources

Testing bonding between Babbitt metal bearing

liners and steel or bronze bearing shells, also
measurement of liner thickness.

Babbitt metal, first formulated in 1839, is an alloy

of tin or lead, copper, and antimony that is
commonly used as a rolling contact surface in
friction bearings because of its low coefficient of
friction, good load-bearing and lubrication
properties, and resistance to galling. Babbitt
bearings typically consist of a relatively thin layer
of Babbitt cast over a steel or bronze shell that provides structural strength. Proper bonding between the Babbitt liner and the
steel or bronze shell is essential for performance, and the thickness of the Babbitt is often of interest as well. Babbitt bonding
and thickness can be readily tested with ultrasonic flaw detectors as long as the Babbitt layer thickness is greater than
approximately 0.008” or 0.2 mm.

Any Olympus flaw detector can be used for this test. These include the EPOCH 600, EPOCH 1000, EPOCH LTC, and EPOCH
650. Selected contact or delay line transducers will be used as described below.

(a) Bond test from outer surface of bearing

In cases where the outer surface of the bearing shell is accessible and concentric with the ID, the simplest procedure is to test
from the outside with a small contact transducer, typically in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 2.25 MHz. Common choices
include the V112-RM (10 MHz), V110-RM (5 MHz), and V106-RM (2.25 MHz). If the liner is bonded, a small echo from the
shell/liner boundary will be followed by a larger echo from the liner ID. If the liner is disbonded, there will be only a large echo
from the inner surface of the shell.

The waveforms below show a typical response from a 0.080” (2 mm) Babbitt liner inside a 0.700” (17.75 mm) steel shell, using a

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V112-RM contact transducer. In the waveform at left, the small negative echo in the red gate followed by an echo in the blue
gate represents a bonded condition. In the waveform at right, the much larger negative echo in the red gate and an absence of
an echo in the blue gate represents a disbond.

Typical waveform from bond Typical waveform from disbond

(b) Bond testing from inner surface of bearing

Liner bonding can also be tested from the ID using a small diameter delay line transducer, typically with a broadband delay line
that has been radiused to conform to the ID curvature for optimum coupling. Frequency ranges from 20 MHz for very thin Babbitt
(under 0.020” or 0.5 mm) to 2.25 MHz for thick Babbit (0.200” or 5 mm and greater). Common choices include the V208-RM (20
MHz), V202-RM (10 MHz), V206-RB (5 MHz), and V207-RB (2.25 MHz) with radiused delay lines. This test is based on both
echo phase and amplitude. If the Babbitt is bonded, there will be a positive polarity reflection from the liner/shell boundary. If the
Babbitt is disbonded, the echo will be negative and significantly larger. This is due to the relative acoustic impedances of the two
metals. The waveforms below show a typical response from a 0.080” (2 mm) Babbitt liner inside a steel shell, using a V202-RM
delay line transducer. In the waveform at left, the small positive echo in the gate represents a bonded condition. In the waveform
at right, the much larger negative echo followed by a multiple reflection represents a disbond.

Typical waveform from bond Typical waveform from disbond

(c) Babbitt thickness measurement

Whether testing from the outside or inside, Babbitt thickness is measured in echo-to-echo mode between the two peaks
representing the shell/liner bondline and the ID reflection. Thickness measurement uses the same transducers as the bonding
test and can be performed simultaneously. The waveform below shows a typical echo-to-echo thickness measurement from the
ID of a bearing. Note that Babbitt metal is very soft and thus has very slow sound velocity for a metal, typically about .1315 in/us
or 3350 m/s for tin-based Babbitt alloys and about .0900 in/us or 2285 m/s for lead-based Babbitt.

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Babbitt thickness measurement

For further information on Babbitt bearing testing or any other ultrasonic test applications, contact Olympus.

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Ultrasonic Inspection of Babbitt Bearing Liners
The EPOCH 1000 is an advanced conventional ultrasonic flaw
detector that can be upgraded with phased array imaging at
an authorized Olympus service center. Key features include:
EN12668-1 compliant, 37 digital receiver filter selections, and
6 kHz pulse repetition rate for high speed scanning.
NEW
The EPOCH 650 is a conventional ultrasonic flaw detector
with excellent inspection performance and usability for a wide
variety of applications. This intuitive, rugged instrument is a
continuation of the popular EPOCH 600 flaw detector with
additional capabilities.
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The EPOCH 600 is mid-level, handheld ultrasonic flaw
detector. Weighing only 1.68 kg (3.72 lb.), its horizontal case
is built to withstand the rigors of very harsh environments.
EN12668-1 plus features such as 400 V PerfectSquare
tunable square wave pulser, digital filtering for enhanced
signal-to-noise ratio.
The EPOCH LTC is a mid-level, handheld ultrasonic flaw
detector in a compact 2.12 lbs (0.96 kg) vertical case. It is a
full-featured instrument with EN12668-1 compliance and a
wide variety of standard features as well as specialized
options to meet your inspection needs.
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