SKF has unveiled a pioneering model which enables the working life of hybrid bearings to be determined more realistically. Known as the Generalised Bearing Life Model (GBLM), its development will ensure that customers choose the right bearing for the application. It is difficult to predict whether a hybrid bearing will outperform a steel bearing in a given application. The conventional equations engineers use to calculate the rating life of bearings do not reflect the real-world performance of hybrid designs. To rectify this issue SKF developed what would become the Generalised Bearing Life Model. Using GBLM, the company’s engineers determined the benefits of hybrid bearings. In poorly lubricated pump bearings, the rating life of hybrid bearings can be up to eight times that of steel equivalents while in screw compressor bearings with contaminated lubricant, the hybrid offers a rating lifetime a hundred times greater than that of conventional steel bearings.
Contact Samantha Joubert, SKF, Tel 011 821-3602, samantha.joubert@skf.com
