Zirconia Ceramic Bushings Wear-Resistant Yttria Stabilized Zirconia Ceramic Bushes ZrO2 Sleeves

Zirconia ceramic bushings are precision ceramic components made primarily from zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) through processes such as dry pressing, isostatic pressing, and injection molding.

Zirconia ceramic bushings are sleeve-shaped mechanical components typically press-fitted or bonded into the bore of a metal housing (such as a bearing seat, valve body, or pump casing). They serve as a lining, providing support, positioning, and friction reduction for rotating shafts or reciprocating rods or shafts within the housing. Their core material is zirconia ceramic.

Zirconia ceramic bushings are a high-performance solution designed to cope with extreme wear, severe corrosion and special working conditions (non-magnetic, insulating, and non-lubricated).

Zirconia ceramic bushings are high-performance wear-resistant components made from zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) ceramic, increasingly replacing metal bushings in many demanding industrial applications.

Zirconia ceramic bushings offer:

1. Extremely high wear resistance (the core advantage)

• Performance: Zirconia boasts a Rockwell hardness of HRA 87-90, making its wear resistance dozens of times greater than that of high-chromium cast iron and hundreds of times greater than that of manganese steel.
• Value: Extremely long service life in conditions involving dust, particulate matter, or dry friction, significantly reducing downtime for replacement and maintenance.

2. Excellent Corrosion Resistance

• Performance: Highly resistant to most acids, alkalis, solvents, and salts.
• Value: Suitable for use in corrosive environments such as chemical, pharmaceutical, and marine environments, without rusting or corroding like metal.

3. High Strength and Toughness

• Performance: Zirconia achieves the highest fracture toughness of all advanced ceramics through a "phase transformation toughening" mechanism, overcoming the brittleness of traditional ceramics and offering high flexural strength.
• Value: Can withstand high loads and moderate impact forces without breaking.

4. Self-lubricating and low friction coefficient

• Performance: Zirconia has a smooth surface that can be polished to a mirror finish, resulting in a low coefficient of friction.
• Value: Operates smoothly, especially in applications where lubrication is poor or impossible (such as food and pharmaceutical machinery).

5. Insulating and non-magnetic

• Performance: An excellent electrical insulator and completely non-magnetic.
• Value: Can be used in applications requiring insulation (such as motors) or in strong magnetic fields (such as MRI equipment) without causing interference.

6. Lightweight

• Performance: Density is approximately 6.0 g/cm³, higher than aluminum but lower than steel (7.8 g/cm³).
• Value: Contributes to lightweighting of equipment by reducing the inertia of moving parts.

Zirconia ceramic bushings are designed to address wear and corrosion issues in harsh operating conditions and are widely used in the following applications:

1. Chemical and Process Industries

• Applications: Bearing bushings for centrifugal pumps, metering pumps, agitators, and valves.
• Operating Conditions: Conveying corrosive media (acids, alkalis, slurries), high temperatures, and poor lubrication.

2. Food and Pharmaceutical Machinery

• Applications: Support bushings for filling and packaging machines, mixing equipment, and conveying equipment.
• Operating Conditions: Avoiding product contamination with lubricating oils requires frequent cleaning (CIP/SIP) with water, steam, or chemicals.

3. Electronics and Semiconductor Manufacturing

• Applications: Insulating and wear-resistant bushings for moving parts in wafer transfer robots and vacuum chambers.
• Operating Conditions: High cleanliness requirements require avoiding contamination with metal wear particles, sometimes requiring vacuum or specialized atmospheres.

4. Textile Machinery

• Applications: Thread guides and high-speed spindle bushings.
• Operating Conditions: High-speed operation and long-term friction and wear of fibers.

4. Medical Equipment

• Applications: Bushings for precision moving parts in diagnostic equipment and analytical instruments. 
• Operating Conditions: Requires long life, low noise, non-magnetic properties, and resistance to disinfectant corrosion.

5. High Temperature and Special Environments

• Applications: High-temperature furnace conveyor rollers, automotive engine test benches.
• Operating Conditions: High temperature, oil-free lubrication.