Shop term for material picked up by one surface from its mating part during adhesive wear or galling: bronze smeared onto a steel shaft, aluminum on a cylinder wall, babbitt on a journal. The lumps stand proud and keep doing damage, so mechanics stone or polish them off before reassembly. Pickup is proof the lubricant film failed at some point.
There's bronze pickup on the shaft under that bushing, polish it off and check the grease line isn't plugged.
Also heard as
- metal pickup
- metal transfer
Related terms
Galling
Severe adhesive wear where sliding metals seize and tear, raising lumps of transferred metal.
Adhesive wear
Wear where touching asperities weld together and tear, moving metal from one surface to the other.
Wipe
To smear the soft babbitt lining of a plain bearing when the oil film fails, ruining the bearing.
Scuffing
Sudden, severe adhesive damage where the oil film fails and sliding surfaces locally weld and tear.