Bearing the brunt

Schaeffler has developed what it calls the ‘FAG tube roller bearing’ for arduous uses such as hot steel rolling mills. Here, bearings alternate between having to ensure very heavy loadings – when steel is going through the mill – and no loading at all. Under such conditions, it is possible for bearing slippage to occur, resulting in damage. By inserting three slightly oversized – but marginally compliant – tubular rollers between conventional, solid cylindrical rollers can prevent low-load slippage in cylindrical roller bearings. “The initial idea was that it should be on very high load bearings,” says Rainer Eidloth of Schaeffler. “There is microns of difference between the sizes of the tube rollers and the solid rollers, for pre-tensioning the ring.” More details on the technology appear in the July issue of Eureka.