Orbital tensioner

1. A tensioner comprising:

a base;

a ring engaged with the base, the ring rotatable about a center “C” within a base opening, a pulley journalled to the ring;

a pivot arm pivotally engaged with the ring, a pulley journalled to the pivot arm, the pivot arm pivot axis is offset from center “C”;

a torsion spring disposed between the ring and the pivot arm for urging the pivot arm;

a damping material frictionally disposed between the base and the ring, a spring applying a normal load to the damping material; and

a bushing disposed between the ring and the base to facilitate rotational movement of the ring;

the damping material partially comprising stainless steel fibers and having a resistance in the range of greater than 0Ω up to approximately 10,000Ω, wherein the damping material (i) comprises by weight approximately 3% to approximately 5% stainless steel fibers, and (ii) is part of a damping assembly comprising a metallic backing plate for the damping material.

2. The tensioner as in claim 1 , wherein the damping material further comprises Nylon 66.

3. The tensioner as in claim 1 , wherein the spring comprises a wave spring.

4. The tensioner as in claim 1 , wherein a retaining member attached to the base retains the ring to the base.

5. The tensioner as in claim 1 , the bushing comprising stainless steel fibers and a resistance in the range of greater than 0Ω up to approximately 10,000Ω.

6. The tensioner as in claim 1 , wherein the resistance is less than approximately 5000Ω.

7. The tensioner as in claim 5 , wherein the resistance is less than approximately 5000Ω.

8. The tensioner as in claim 1 , wherein the stainless steel fibers have a length in the range of 4 mm to 6 mm.

9. The tensioner as in claim 1 , wherein the stainless steel fibers have a diameter of approximately 8 microns.