BowMet® – The biggest advance in plain bearings for 70 years
Our BowMet® range of rolled bearings offers outstanding capabilities, longer service life, and exceptional performance in demanding environments. As a trusted BowMet bearings manufacturer, Bowman provides high-performance plain bearings that deliver higher load capacity than comparable bearings, together with industry-leading heat, speed, and corrosion resistance.
Manufactured from the unique ToughMet® alloy developed by Materion in the USA, BowMet bearings represent the biggest advance in plain sliding bearings in more than 70 years.
What should I use it for?
With a static load capacity of 820 N/mm² and an impressive PV value of 9.6 MPa × m/s, these ToughMet bearings are 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.
BowMet bearings also provide excellent resistance to corrosion, including hydrogen embrittlement and chloride stress corrosion cracking, making them highly effective corrosion resistant bearings when compared with traditional copper-based alloys.
What about the wastage?
The rolling process ensures virtually no material wastage and offers unrivalled manufacturing flexibility with no minimum order quantity. This makes BowMet a highly versatile and cost-effective solution. Previously, bearings manufactured from ToughMet® had to be machined from solid bar or thick-walled tube, resulting in material wastage of up to 75%.
What variety is available?
BowMet bearings are available as plain or flanged bearings in a variety of standard wall thicknesses from 0.75 mm to 3 mm or above, as well as imperial sizes. The range can also be customised with lubrication grooves, location slots, tabs, holes, and pockets. Special and one-off production runs can be manufactured with minimal or no tooling costs.
What does it mean for me?
Choosing BowMet means increased reliability, reduced downtime, fewer warranty claims, and lower maintenance costs. These high-performance plain bearings combine higher load capacity, greater operating speeds, and outstanding corrosion resistance to deliver long-term value across demanding industrial applications. Whether you require rolled bronze bearings or advanced BowMet bearings for heavy-duty environments, Bowman delivers a solution engineered for performance.
