LAUSR

Abstract Porous polyimide materials have been widely used to make bearing retainers in aerospace industry and military system owing to its excellent oil storage and lubrication performances. Poor high-temperature resistance, however, is still one of key issues restricting the lifetime and operating precision of bearing. Here, porous thermosetting benzimidazole-containing aromatic polyimide (PIB) materials were fabricated for the first time. The glass transition temperature of PIB-2 (one of the PIB materials fabricated in current paper) was 336 °C. Meanwhile, the coefficient of friction and wear rate of PIB-2 impregnated with phenyl silicone oil sliding against GCr15 steel at 300 °C were 0.038 and 1.41 × 10−6 mm3N−1m−1. Therefore, the porous thermosetting PIB materials are potential candidates to make high-temperature bearing retainers with excellent wear resistance.