A method for lubricating a generator bearing assembly is presented. The generator bearing assembly has a bearing and a bearing seat that supports the bearing. A coating of a lubricating material is applied at an interfacing surface between the bearing and the bearing seat. A curing process is performed to the coating by heating the coating up to a predefined curing temperature.

A method of providing electrical insulation for at least one portion of a bearing element is disclosed herein. The method includes electrostatically spraying a polymer coating to the at least one portion of the bearing element, and the polymer coating comprises a thermoset epoxy coating or a self-adhering nylon powder coating. The bearing element can be grounded during the electrostatic spraying. The method includes heating the polymer coating in an oven at a temperature less than or equal to 220° C. for a predetermined time, such that after removal from the oven, the polymer coating has a porosity of less than 10%. The coated bearing element has a resistance of at least 50 MΩ resistance under dry conditions and 10 MΩ resistance under wet conditions.

A method of forming a bearing cage is generally disclosed herein. The method includes (i) forming a bearing cage from either titanium or a titanium alloy; and (ii) applying a plasma-nitriding treatment to at least one surface of the bearing cage to form a compound layer of titanium nitride including TiN and Ti.sub.2N on an outer region of the at least one surface. Step (ii) further forms a diffusion zone adjacent to the outer region, in one aspect. A surface hardness of the bearing cage that is treated by the plasma-nitriding step is at least 1000 HV. The bearing cage is configured to be used in a turbofan, turboprop, or turboshaft engine or in a helicopter gearbox, in one aspect.

A thrust washer may include a metallic substrate layer having an axial substrate face. The thrust washer may also include a polymer layer on the axial substrate face. The polymer layer may have an axial polymer face opposed to the axial substrate face. The axial polymer face may be profiled and may have at least one oil distribution groove. At least one of the substrate layer and the polymer layer may be a machined layer having a thickness that may vary in correspondence with the at least one distribution groove.

The method comprises depositing a coating of metal material on the inside surface of the body (4) of the stator (36), impregnating said coating with a self-lubricating composite material (20), machining internal cells (28) in the thickness of the coating (10), and machining orifices (34) leading into the cells.

A method for producing a connecting rod for an internal combustion engine, having a small connecting rod eye for holding a piston pin and having a large connecting rod eye for holding a crank pin, wherein at least one connecting rod eye has at least one geometric deviation from a cylindrical inner contour. It is provided according to the invention that the at least one connecting rod eye is formed by creating a bore with a cylindrical inner contour, and coating the bore with a coating comprising a resin with solid lubricant particles embedded therein. The coating forms the at least one geometric deviation from the cylindrical inner contour of the at least one connecting rod eye.

A method for manufacturing a component is provided. The method includes providing one or more notches on a surface of the component. Further, depositing a coating on the surface to provide a thickness of the coating on the surface, is performed. The method also includes removing, at least partially, the coating from the surface such that the thickness of the coating over the notches is different from the thickness of the coating on the surface adjacent to the notches.

Provided is a technique whereby a DLC film having a desired surface roughness and a desired film hardness can be easily formed within a short period of time while preventing cost increase so that a large quantity of boll joints, which are less expensive and yet have stable sliding characteristics, can be supplied. A method for manufacturing a ball joint provided with a ball stud that has a spherical surface section and a holder section that pivotally holds the spherical surface section, said method comprising: an intermediate underlayer-forming step for forming an intermediate underlayer, that has a fine irregular surface structure, on the surface of the spherical surface section using a sputtering method; and an amorphous hard carbon film-forming step for forming an amorphous hard carbon film, that has a root mean square roughness on the surface of 6.5-35 nm, on the intermediate underlayer using a PIG plasma film formation method.

A sliding member includes: a lining layer formed from an alloy having a predetermined shape; and an overlay layer formed on an inner circumferential surface of the lining layer, the overlay layer being formed of a resin, the overlay layer sliding with a shaft, the overlay layer including a raised portion a height of which in a predetermined area including each of an edge in an axial direction of the shaft is greater than a height of another area of the overlay layer.

A sliding member includes an overlay layer made of a resin on a side of a sliding surface of a bearing alloy layer. When a valley void volume Vvv (μm.sup.3/μm.sup.2) in the sliding surface of the overlay layer is defined as Vv1, Vv1 is in a range of 0.015≤Vv1≤0.200.