The latest tale from two cities
May 1st 2005 With the integration of INA and FAG now nearing completion after the merger two years ago the company is now looking to push forward with new products and partnerships. Ian Clay visited the company at Maintec 2005 in Birmingham and at the Hanover Fair in Germany, here he reports for IP&E Ball or roller? This can often be the decisive question for bearing solutions. Instead, why not combine the best characteristics of both ball and roller bearings in one high performance solution? This is what INA FAG has done as the company premiered the ASSR bearing (Anti Slippage Spherical Rolling Bearing) at this year’s Hanover Fair.
The bearing was produced when the company was asked to look specifically at solving the problem of slippage damage paper machinery.
What is so special about this combination of balls and rollers? The bearing consists primarily of the rings of a standard spherical roller bearing. In each of the row of rolling elements, balls alternate with barrel rollers. In the ‘low load phase’, the ball set ensures slippage-free operation. In the ‘high load phase’ the balls, which are calculated precisely by computer, become subordinate, i.e. they deflect and the barrel rollers take over the load-bearing task. The elastic deformation of the balls and rollers is precisely matched to the particular operating condition. The advantages of the ASSR bearing are: free from slippage under minimal load; capable of angular adjustment; low frictional torque; suitable for high speeds; high load carrying capacity for brief periods With the ASSR, the user has an economical bearing solution that is effective in preventing slippage, allows higher machine availability and costeffectiveness and is also characterised by quiet running even at very high speeds.
Furthermore, an important factor for retrofitting is that the ASSR is interchangeable with standard bearings.
Condition Monitoring As announced in the March issue of IP&E Maintec 2005 saw the launch of the PRAXIS service partnership between INA FAG and Corus Northern Engineering Services. Condition monitoring services such as vibration analysis, acoustic emissions and thermography are all available through this partnership.
The service partnership will, among others, use technology from FAG Industrial Services (F’IS). F’IS has made a name for itself worldwide through the use of vibration and temperature monitoring systems and the associated diagnosis.
Hardware and software systems from F’IS are available to support the installation, commissioning, monitoring and maintenance of complete condition monitoring systems. Among the condition monitoring products and software systems available are: The Detector II – a handheld measuring device for measuring data in the offline monitoring of production plants.
Bearing Analyser III – an efficient and reasonably priced vibration diagnosis tool for the early detection of rolling bearing damage and gear damage by means of the envelope detection method.
DTECT X1 – a reliable online monitoring device for the detection of damage and faults in machines without requiring the presence of a diagnosis specialist. DTECT X1 automatically reports change to the operator, wherever they are in the World.
Vibrocheck – a permanent online monitoring system where a large number of measuring points must be monitored such as rolling mills, paper mills and power stations.
One of the most interesting aspects of the trip to Germany was the revelation that F’IS and National Instruments are working together to develop the next generation of condition monitoring systems. NI will offer expertise in measurement hardware and software and F’IS will provide the condition monitoring applications and system development expertise. Building on its systems and many years of experience in vibration diagnosis, F’IS will develop the next generation of condition monitoring systems on the basis of the NI platforms LabVIEW and CompactRIO. The initial results of the NI and F’IS partnership will be presented later this year.
X-Life As one would expect INA FAG also used its large stand at the Hannover Fair to introduce new and improved products in its X-Life range. Indeed with its new generation of higher performance cylindrical roller bearings in X-life quality, the company is claiming to set new standards. Two new cage variants have been developed - a sheet steel cage and a single-piece, profile milled solid brass cage - for an even wider range of applications.
If the basic dynamic load ratings of various types of cylindrical roller bearings are compared in relation to their volume, outstanding values are found in bearings with heavy-section rings. This excellent load carrying capacity is increased even further by improved surface quality. The achievable life is significantly influenced by the surface roughness of the contact surfaces (raceways and longitudinal roller surface). This knowledge is now being reflected in new products: the characteristics of X-life cylindrical roller bearings include significantly reduced peak roughness values and put an end to excessive stress concentrations.
The increased performance of X-life cylindrical roller bearings due to the improved surface values and the associated economic potential is clearly seen with the NJ 219E.TVP2 (with a polyamide cage) bearing. The conventional standard bearing has the values C = 220 kN (basic dynamic load rating), Co = 265 kN (basic static load rating) and Cu = 32.5 kN (fatigue limit load). In comparison, the X-life design offers 260 kN (dynamic), 265 kN (static) and 41.5 kN (fatigue limit load).
This gives an increase in the basic rating life by a factor of 1,75 and 2,5 in the expanded life value. Since the bearings last longer, the user can make savings to the same extent. Downsizing is also possible – saving space.
In many cylindrical roller bearing applications, the designer can usually choose from three cage materials: plastic, sheet steel and brass. In addition to the optimised surface, new sheet steel cages and single-piece, profile milled solid brass cages have been introduced in X-life quality. For applications requiring increased temperature resistance, good lubrication and high geometrical stability of the cage, INA FAG offers a sheet steel cage as a particularly cost-effective solution. The advantages of the new sheet steel cage, in brief, include: precisely defined guidance surfaces on the crosspieces; high axial parallelism; the contact running surfaces of the new cage are uniform and flat due to a special production process; considerably improved oil and grease flow; lower bearing temperature = higher performance; improved rigidity For applications also requiring high load capacity in terms of vibrations or high radial accelerations, INA FAG offers a new single-piece, profile milled solid brass cage. The new cage design gives cooler running than the previous broached cage.
This is due to improved contact geometry in the roller/crosspiece contact. This gives: a reduction in the radial force components; improved lubrication and reduced cage mass with lower side wall height; improved lubricant flow = lower bearing temperature; a reduction in the mass-dependent forces (oscillations, vibrations) As a result of the new production process, the number of rolling elements in a large number of cages can be increased over the old broached design, giving higher load carrying capacity.
In addition to cage-guided X-life cylindrical roller bearings from INA FAG, the range also includes full complement cylindrical roller bearings (inside diameter 20 to 220 mm) for very high basic load ratings.
X-LIFE NEEDLE BEARINGS INA FAG also showcased its range of Xlife machined needle roller bearings.
These offer dynamic load ratings that have increased by 13% and an increased service life of up to 50%. These improvements have been achieved for the RNA, NA, NK, NKI product series with maximum outside dia of 120 mm. The result is efficient bearing supports with longer service life, reduced lubricant consumption, less friction and lower bearing temperatures. These changes are based on testing and an improved manufacturing process. .
The level of manufacturing quality at INA FAG ensures optimal surface roughness and the geometric accuracy of the machined needle roller bearing raceways.
Also on show at Hanover was the expanded range of TN plastic cages.
These cages give important guidance in the bearing and must support relatively high loads. The material used for the cages is heat-stabilised, glass fibre reinforced polyamide PA66-GF/H, which is both strong and elastic. Since plastic cages can hold more rolling elements than steel cages, dynamic load ratings increase by up to 20%, depending on the bearing type.
As a result of the positive sliding characteristics of plastic on lubricated steel surfaces and the minimal roughness of the cage surface, cage friction and heat generation in the bearing are low. If lubricated properly, polyamide cages are no different from metal cages. However, if lubrication is even slightly insufficient, plastic becomes superior to steel. Testing has served to verify the dry-running characteristics of polyamide.
Manufacturing also yields accurately formed cages. The undercut of the needle retention on the cage can be injection moulded, and tabs can be furnished against the rolling element protrusion. The bearings easily slide onto the shaft, saving mounting costs. Finally, polyamide cages have the added advantage of ensuring that the bearings operate with low-noise.
medias, Bearinx and Endorsia finetuned Also shown in Hanover was the improved medias, Bearinx and Endorsia e-service solutions. medias has been improved by enabling users to calculate FAG housing data - together with information on appropriate accessories.
Further user-friendly extras include: a housing assistant for the selection of suitable housings for bearings; intermediate saving of load case data during calculation, as long as the user does not change product areas; calculation of overolling frequencies; data on new linear products; selection of current contact personnel; While numerous X-life products were included in the previous version of medias, all X-life catalogue products are now presented.
This means that the many options in medias are now available for X-life products, such as comprehensive calculations and descriptions, CAD downloads as 2D and 3D models, lubricant selection and tips and advice on fitting and dismantling.
The improved quality of calculation in medias online is due to a new online version of the calculation tool Bearinx 6.0.
With Bearinx online, it is now possible to calculate precisely the actual, realistic factors such as shaft flexing, spring deflection, internal load distribution and contact pressure. There are also some new developments in the electronic marketplace product - Endorsia. In addition to manual and fully automatic order logging, Endorsia now offers the option of entering orders via Excel. The second highlight is the function for downloading the order status to goods management systems. Users can check the current status of orders at any time without having to carry out multiple queries.
With its strong bearing product offering, the technology and service that F’IS can offer and with the PRAXIS service partnership (and the results of its tie-up with NI in the pipeline) there has never been more of a reason for speaking with INA FAG about your production problems. More articles from Schaeffler (UK) Ltd: | 
