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Lubricants and bearings

Correct bearing and grease selection

Hydraulic drives and pumps require precision bearings and seals that are reliable, but more than 40% of all premature failures of rolling bearings are caused by inadequate or incorrect selection of lubricant. Choosing the most appropriate bearings, grease and re-lubrication equipment for any application is vital.

ydraulic drives and pumps are hard at work in almost every conceivable area of manufacturing, often in the most critical, demanding applications, from the oil and gas industry, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, through to water, sewerage, metals processing, food and beverage. The components inside these hydraulic drives and pumps need to be reliable, energy efficient and able to withstand often very harsh operating environments. A gear pump, for example, is used in almost all industrial sectors, supplying coolants and foodstuffs or keeping hydraulic systems in motion. They are also found in municipal vehicles, mobile hydraulic equipment and agricultural machinery. Good plain bearings or high quality needle roller bearings help to ensure that the gears perform with almost zero losses. The supply medium is often used as the lubricant for the bearings. For the supply of fluids with low lubrication characteristics, needle roller bearings are increasingly used rather than plain bearings in order to maximise the life of the gear pump. In addition, higher speeds can be achieved if less heat is generated from the bearings. Hydrostatic gearboxes transfer continuously variable driving force in quad bikes, sit-on lawnmowers, tractors and off-road vehicles. As well as rolling bearings and plain bearings, Schaeffler offers

its INA-branded precision parts, including deep drawn hollow pistons, valves and fine blanked components. Dr Steve Lacey, engineering manager, Schaeffler UK said: The pump speed and load often determine whether ball bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, radial spherical roller bearings or plain bearings are selected for the application. High torque motors are often specified for applications in which abrupt stops or reverse motion occur, including agricultural machinery, crushers, feed devices, rolling mills, paper mills and bulk handling machines. High torque motors are used

rather than conventional gearbox and motors where there are extremely high torques present (as high as 1,400,000 Nm) and harsh operating conditions. As Dr Lacey explains: High torque motors typically offer low start-up friction and stick-slip free motion at low speeds. Ready-to-mount functional units, bent axis motors are used in hydraulic systems to generate pressure. The stroke motion of the axially oscillating pistons is generated by the main output axis, which is bent towards the rotor axis. We manufacture geometrically accurate steel seals with split butt joints for

Figure 1. A barrel-type pump for power generation (photograph courtesy of KSB Frankenthal).

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Figure 2. The cam curves of a typical high torque motor. The pump speed and load often determine whether ball bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, radial spherical roller bearings or plain bearings are selected for the application.

Special lubricants
Schaeffler works closely with lubricant manufacturers to develop special greases that are suitable for rolling bearings. The Arcanol range of greases includes 15 rolling bearing greases, each graduated to cover all application areas. Multitop is a universal grease for ball and rolling bearings that is suitable for use in construction machinery, automotive engineering, rolling mills and grinding machine spindles. VIB3 is a mineral-based grease with a polycarbamide thickener, suitable for use in blade adjusters in rotors for wind turbines, packaging machinery and rail vehicles. The grease is designed to resist high temperatures, high loads and oscillating motion. Multi3 is formulated grease for large electric motors, agricultural machinery and fans. Food2 is a white, oil-based grease for use with ball and roller bearings in applications where contact with food occurs.

designs with either centred or eccentric crowned outer diameters, as well as for other contours, states Dr Lacey. Our product range also includes high precision control discs and other fine blanked parts with consistently accurate contours and smooth, perpendicular cut surfaces that can also be made from metal composites. Schaefflers INA-branded DRG steel seals are characterised by their low press-on force,

minimal leakage, low wear, high resistance to abrasion, and their resistance to oil and temperature.

Grease selection
More than 80% of all rolling bearings are lubricated with grease. It is therefore critical that engineers select the most appropriate grease for the bearing and the application it is operating in. Not only will correct selec-

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tion prolong the life of the bearing, enabling it to operate at its full capacity, but it also ensures smoother running behaviour and improved operational safety. But selecting a suitable lubricant for a rolling bearing can be a complex process. Grease is

basically a type of oil with a thickening agent added to it, giving it a more viscous form. There are many different types of bearing grease available, so engineers should take the time to make more informed selections that ensure a long and trouble-free life for the bearing. Greases can be used effectively to lubricate bearings over a very wide range of operating conditions. However, initial selection is based on two critical parameters. First, the P/C ratio, which is a measure of the load P on the bearing in relation to the dynamic capacity C, which is calculated according to international standards and quoted by all leading bearing manufacturers in their technical literature. In general, if the P/C ratio is greater than 0.15, the bearing is regarded as heavily loaded, and special lubricants with extreme pressure additives will be required to increase the load carrying capacity of the bearing and to prevent metal-to-metal contact, which leads to high wear and premature bearing failure. Generally, a P/C of less than 0.15 for radially loaded bearings using standard lithium soap greases (normal operating conditions) is 400,000 min-1.mm. It is also important to keep the P/C ratio above 0.02, as in general, below this value, the bearing will skid rather than roll, again resulting in possible premature bearing failure due to high wear and an increase in friction. To avoid slippage with caged ball bearings, engineers should work on a P/C of 0.01 and for caged roller bearings, a P/C of 0.02 is advised.

Controlled re-lubrication
Controlled re-lubrication of bearings is often required in order to extend service and maintenance intervals and minimise plant downtime. Schaffler offers three main products for this: Motion Guard Compact is a single point electro-chemical lubrication system that comprises a housing filled with 120 cm3 of grease, controlled via an activation screw. Motion Guard Champion is a single point, battery-operated lubricator that comprises either a 120 cm3 or 250 cm3 volume of grease, with drive unit and adaptor. Motion Guard Concept6 is an electromechanical single point lubrication system that can be expanded to include up to six lubrication points.

Figure 3. A typical gear pump. Good plain bearings or high quality needle roller bearings help to ensure that the gears perform with almost zero losses.

give an indication of the relative speed of rotation to the physical size of the bearing. In general if the ndm value is below 400,000 then standard general purpose bearing greases can be effectively used to lubricate the bearing. For ndm values in excess of this, special greases are required, which have relatively low base oil viscosities, in order to reduce the amount of heat generated by the bearing when rotating at higher speeds. It is quite possible, with recent developments in both bearings and grease lubricants, to achieve ndm values of up to 2,000,000. Whilst grease lubrication is inherently simple, there are many bearing applications where oil is the only choice available, since it has the key attribute of being able to remove the heat generated in the bearing due to load and speed. It is quite possible that ndm values up to 4,000,000 are achievable for oil jet lubrication. In harsh operating conditions or aggressive environments, rolling bearings should be re-lubricated frequently via lubrication nipples. While, Schaefffler has its own product range for this (see box), FAG metering devices are also provided, enabling customers to supply grease to rolling bearings in metered quantities, from 10 cm3 up to 133 cm3. By using a pneumatically driven, double-direction piston pump, the lubricant is transferred from the grease drum (25 kg or 180 kg) via the metering valve to the point of application.

Figure 4. Motion Guard Concept 6 is an electromechanical single point lubrication system that can be expanded to include up to six lubrication points.

Second, the ndm value which is calculated from the speed of the bearing n in rpm and the bearing mean diameter dm in mm will

Figure 5. Ready-to-mount functional units, bent axis motors are used in hydraulic systems to generate pressure.
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