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Sealed Spherical Roller Bearings from Schaeffler addresses the need of India’s mining sector

Sealed Spherical Roller Bearings from Schaeffler addresses the need of India’s mining sector

Mining equipment is exposed to harsh conditions. Bearings failures can become a common problem, reducing production efficiency and creating unplanned downtimes. The primary reason for bearing failures is due to contaminants, such as aggregates, mining material, or iron ore entering the bearing housing. The reason for contaminant penetration can be due to poor maintenance of the machinery, improper lubrication (excess or less), or incorrect installation – leading to misalignment.

In mining sites, spherical roller bearings are used in dust-prone applications like conveyor pulleys or cement mills conveyors. Due to the environment, often, water is used to wash down the equipments, resulting it to leak into the bearings. Subsequently, the dust turns into mud and becomes a carrier of contaminants into the bearing housing due to lack of barrier, causing failures and hindering performance on production lines. One of the common methods to prevent the contaminants from entering is to fill the cavity with grease, however, that is not a fully proven method and contaminants can still enter the housing.

With the advent of sealed spherical roller bearings, one can eliminate the problem to a significant extent. A typical sealed spherical roller bearing has three barriers – the housing, the grease, and the seal on the bearing. The seals in SRBs are the last line of defence that can prevent contaminant penetration.

Spherical roller bearings are double row, self-retaining units. The outer and inner rings are solid with concave raceways. The concave design lets the symmetrical barrel rollers orient themselves freely and compensate for any shaft seat misalignment or shaft flexing.

The sealed SRBs are characterized by having sealing shields mounted on either external edge sides of the bearings. There are numerous benefits of using sealed spherical roller bearings in Indian mining applications. Customers can choose between two seal materials, nitrile rubber (NRB) for applications between -30 0C to +100 0C and fluoro rubber (FKM, FPM) for -20 °C to +200 °C.

These high-quality precision bearings promote longer operating life. Maintenance costs are minimized with lower grease consumption and disposal costs. The product is aligned for a green sustainable future, featuring environment-friendly characteristics. Reconditioning services are available in India for sealed spherical bearings having an outside diameter > 160 mm. The service itself has a host of additional benefits when compared to replacement, the primary being significant cost control. Re-lubrication holes are absent in original sealed bearings. The idea is to lubricate the bearing so that the grease lasts for the lifetime of the bearing.

The sealed spherical roller bearing carries some fundamental design tweaks. A common issue with the sealed bearing design is the lack of self-aligning capability when adding a sealed component to the design. This can cause internal wear and tear, reducing the performance and life of the bearing. Schaeffler’s sealed SRB has extra space inside to facilitate minimal contact with sealing arrangement, improving the life expectancy and performance of the bearing.

The sealed spherical roller bearings are designed to match standard sizes in the Schaeffler portfolio, enabling customers to find like-for-like in a wide range of applications.

A differentiator in Schaeffler sealed SRB product range is a wider range of clearance sizes. Sometimes, operational requirements can demand more clearance due to other movements and a wider clearance range takes care of any type of application.

Another key differentiator is X-life certified Schaeffler bearings. These premium bearings have improved performance results from the use of state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. Internal construction is improved, and they have an increased basic dynamic load rating.

Based on the Indian climatic conditions and high-scale mining operations, the sealed spherical roller bearings can enable better performance and eliminate bearing failures. Overall production efficiency improves and maintenance cost reduces.

Schaeffler Group is pioneering the spherical roller bearing industry for over 70 years. Schaeffler sets the vast Indian industrial sector in motion with innovation, quality, and agility.

(from Industrial Business, Schaeffler India)

Total Views: 3186 admin Feb 17, 2022

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