Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides engineering guidance to those who design and use manufactured carbon parts as rubbing members in mechanical devices. It presents economic and technical factors important in the proper use of mechanical carbon components. The use of carbon in mechanical devices is expanding at the rate of 5 to 15% a year. Carbon has long been used by industry as a fuel and as a reducing agent in metallurgical operations. In 1906, the first account of its use was published by Salto who used it as a current collector in an electric motor. Carbon was probably first used as a purely mechanical component in seal rings in steam turbines around 1910. Carbon quickly gained acceptance as a rubbing element in mechanical seals, and the mechanical applications of carbon entered a period of rapid growth.