Factors affecting the service life of rolling bearings

There are many external factors that can affect the service life of rolling bearings, both in terms of installation and maintenance, such as improper installation and maintenance. Let me share with you the common factors that affect the service life of bearings.

1. Analysis of installation factors

For example, the installation of the roller conveyor bearing seat cover and the sealing installation of the bearing seat are important factors affecting the performance of the bearings. The installation of the bearing seat cover directly affects the radial clearance of the bearing. Too small bearing clearance can cause overheating of the bearing, exacerbate bearing wear, and prevent the wear resistance of the bearing from being fully utilized. It may also directly cause the bearing to get stuck. So before installing the cover, adjust the cover position correctly using barley paper.

The installation quality of the bearing seat seal (skeleton oil seal) affects the corrosion rate of the bearing. The roller bearing seat works in a water rich environment, and damage to the seal and incorrect installation method during installation can lead to water ingress into the bearing and iron oxide impurities, accelerating the corrosion rate of bearing components. The skeleton oil seal should avoid mechanical damage during installation, and the lip should face the outside of the bearing seat.

2. Bearing maintenance factors

For example, the maintenance of conveyor rollers includes daily maintenance, operational inspections, and troubleshooting.

The daily maintenance of bearings mainly involves lubrication. With sufficient lubrication, even in complex working environments, the service life of bearings can reach 5 to 10 years (about 200 million to 300 million revolutions). However, in poor lubrication conditions, the service life of bearings will decrease to about 3 months (about 9 million revolutions). The following is the service life of bearings under various lubrication methods. From Table (1), it can be seen that continuous and sufficient wax feeding can achieve a higher service life for the bearing. If the oil supply is not timely, the service life of the bearing will become very low in complex environments such as high water, high temperature, and dust.

The operation inspection of bearings mainly involves detecting the temperature of the bearing seat. The temperature of the roller bearing seat before and after the rolling line is generally around 40 ℃. Even in the early stages of wear on the bearing cage and rolling elements, the temperature rise of the bearing seat will not exceed 43~45~C. But as the internal components of the bearing further wear and inclusions occur, the temperature of the bearing seat will rise to 4550-C. At this point, the load-bearing capacity of the rolling elements becomes more uneven, and even cracks and misalignments may occur. Once the rolling elements crack or become misaligned, the bearing seat will experience a rapid temperature rise, accompanied by smoking and bearing jamming. The temperature at the bearing seat temperature measurement point will rise to 150 to 170 ℃. At this point, the bearings have been completely scrapped.

In order to achieve a longer service life of the bearing, it is necessary to clean and replace the grease in a timely manner during the early wear of the bearing, and adjust the position of the bearing seat cover appropriately by increasing or decreasing the thickness of the gasket. To extend the service life of bearings.

3. Environmental factors

Although the operating environment of rolling bearings in medium thick plate production lines is complex, such as heavy load, high speed, and high water content, which affects the service life of rolling bearings, we can still create a better environment for bearings on site through continuous efforts (such as adding buffer pads to the bearing seat base, coating the bearing seat with waterproof layer, etc.) to extend the service life of bearings.

Rolling bearings are highly standardized precision mechanical components produced by specialized factories. Among the many economic and technical indicators that affect rolling bearings, the service life indicator is a direct, rapid, and comprehensive reflection of bearing quality. Although people have made accurate and comprehensive considerations from design to overall structural design, sometimes the service life of bearings is greatly reduced due to uncertain negligence or certain external factors. Through a series of investigations and analysis based on a large amount of background materials, analysis data, and failure forms, the main causes of bearing failure can be identified. In this way, targeted improvement measures can be proposed to extend the service life of bearings.