Bowman International has launched the new BowMet® range of rolled bearings, billed as the biggest advance in plain sliding bearings in more than 70 years. BowMet® offers a higher load capacity and longer life than comparable bearings, together with outstanding heat, speed and corrosion capabilities. It is manufactured in the uniqueToughMet® alloy, developed by Materion in the USA. With a static load of 820 N/mm2 and an impressive PV value of 9.6 MPa x m/s, BowMet® is ideally suited to a wide range of harsh industrial applications, including mining and quarrying, heavy construction, motorsport, offshore oil and gas, materials handling and marine. It has an outstanding ability to withstand corrosion such as hydrogen embrittlement and chloride stress corrosion cracking, particularly when compared with traditional copper-based alloys. In addition, the rolling process ensures virtually no wastage and unrivalled flexibility with no minimum quantity, which makes BowMet® the ideal solution for virtually any application. The bearings are available as plain or flanged in a variety of standard wall thicknesses from 0.75mm to 3mm or above and are also available in imperial sizes. The range can also be customised to include lubrication grooves, location slots, tabs, holes and pockets, while special and one-off runs can also be produced with minimal or no tooling costs. Paul Mitchell, Managing Director of Bowman International, said: “BowMet® is nothing short of a revolution in bearing design and capability, with the capacity to deliver increased reliability, reduced downtime, fewer warranty claims and lower maintenance costs. All this, of course,in addition to outstanding bearing properties which enable higher loads, higher speeds and combat corrosion. “If that’s not enough, the reduced wastage achieved by the rolling process generates real cost reductions with the BowMet® range. Previously, bearings made from ToughMet® had to be machined from solid bar or thick-walled tube, which could mean as much as 75% material MEDIA INFORMATION wastage. We firmly believe this is the biggest advance in plain bearings in more than 70 years.” About Bowman International Ltd A leading supplier to original equipment manufacturers, stockists and distributors across a wide range of industries worldwide, Bowman International Ltd specialises in the manufacture and supply of bearings and sintered components. Combining technical expertise with unrivalled product know-how and availability, Bowman has over 7,000 types and sizes of bearings in stock including the BowMet, Oilite and WM ranges.