Bearing maker helps industrial customers with custom innovation
TOKYO - Saturday, February 28th 2015 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS
WIRE) -- Unless you are a mechanical engineer, you probably don’t wake
up in the morning thinking about bearings. More likely, you never even
notice that bearings – working away unseen – are the critical components
in everything mechanical that moves: from jumbo-jets to nano-tools,
kitchen blenders to concrete mixers. To meet the vast scope of “Motion
and Control” needs, NSK (TOKYO:6471) – the world’s #3 bearing
manufacturer – must offer over 200,000 different bearings, from
microscopic to mammoth. And each year customers bring new challenges to
NSK researchers: needs for new bearings to meet specific performance
constraints. Here are two challenges that NSK researchers successfully
overcame in 2014.
Wind turbines: reliable rotation under the harshest conditions
Since
the dawn of the new millennium wind energy has grown full-sail from
fringe power source to grid mainstay in countries around the world. NSK
has been a key player in the expansion of global installed generation
capacity from 17.4 gigawatts in 2000 to more than 305 gigawatts by the
end of 2014 – but its role may not be obvious to the casual observer.
Anyone
seeing images of a giant offshore wind turbine might naturally assume
its giant blades are the critical technology involved. But the real key
to the success of these gargantuan machines is in the bearings, which
must function reliably for years under extremely adverse conditions:
massive and rapidly shifting loads; dramatic fluctuations in
temperature; and salty ocean air. Their location atop high towers in
windy seas makes even inspecting an offshore turbine an arduous task. So
swapping out heavy components is a huge undertaking. That is why
bearing durability and reliability is the critical factor in the
economic viability of wind power.
With the benefit of
two decades’ experience in the challenge, NSK engineers achieved
increased durability and reliability for white structure flaking in the
roller bearings used in the gearboxes of large wind turbines, as well as
in giant mining, construction and steelmaking equipment.
NSK’s
solution was a specially developed material combined with a proprietary
heat treatment process that dramatically increases the service life of
the bearings. Incorporated in a new large-size roller bearing (AWS-TFTM)
launched in May, 2014, the innovative technology offers longer service
life than previous products by, several critical measures:
7 times longer without “white structure flaking”
3 times longer without “surface originated flaking”
Twice as long without “subsurface originated flaking”
Twice the fracture toughness
1/50 the dimensional change rate
This
advance is expected to contribute significantly to the long-term
economic viability of wind turbines. NSK expects sales of the new
bearings to reach 1 billion yen (roughly $8.5m) in annual global sales
by 2017.
For more information, see: www.nsk.com/company/presslounge/news/2014/press0527a.html
Heavy-duty spin for more laundry without more space
While
wind turbines are exponentially larger and more sophisticated than your
household washing machine, they share a similar need for a reliable
spin cycle over many years. Here again bearings are the key component.
For
European appliance makers, the home laundry spec has become more
challenging in recent years. Today’s front-loading washer buyers want
more laundry capacity, but in the same space occupied by their previous
machines. That is a challenge because what makers would normally do with
a larger, heavier laundry drum is simply fit larger, heavier-duty
bearings. This led to a conundrum: larger bearings would mean lower
energy efficiency, but fitting the previous bearings on a larger drum
would result in shorter product life. So the manufacturer came to NSK
for help.
As with giant wind turbines, the obstacle to
overcome was a tendency of the non-metallic inclusion in the bearings to
flake or crack after years of vibration. The larger the load, the
greater the tendency. As well, there was a harsh environment to
consider: heat, moisture, soap, dirt and mold to contend with.
NSK’s
solution, released in December, 2014, is the BNEQARTET™ Long Life
Bearing for Front-Loading Washers. Even under heavier loads, it achieves
more than twice the product life of the standard bearing used for drum
support in front-loading washers, but takes up no more space.
NSK
leveraged one of its core material technologies in developing the
material for this new bearing, through a combination of alloy component
optimization and proprietary cleaning control technology to counter the
possibility of contamination. The result:
Twice the rated fatigue life
Suppression of surface-originated flaking due to stress concentration from dents caused by contamination
Suppression of “white structure flaking”
Suppression of flaking in high-temperature environments
NSK is targeting 1.5 billion yen (roughly $12.5m) in annual global sales for this new product in 2018.
For more information, see: www.nsk.com/company/presslounge/news/2015/press0114b.html
Here’s
the final ‘spin’ on these two stories. As a result of NSK’s efforts,
many washing machines will soon make more efficient use of energy –
sustainably produced by the wind.
About NSK
In
2016, NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO:
Norio Otsuka) will celebrate a century of innovation since its founding
as Japan's first bearings manufacturer. With the theme “Motion &
Control” at the core of its business, NSK today is a global enterprise
with 213 facilities in 31 countries that serve a diverse range of
industrial customers with a wide range of precision components in
addition to bearings. The company provides customers with total
solutions through its world-leading technologies, sales force and
customer service capabilities.
Contacts
NSK
Makiko Urushino
urushino@nsk.com
Fax: 81-3-3779-7431
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