Sep 13 2012
Technology from The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) has helped more than double the service life of wheel end rebuilds on mining haul trucks.
The proprietary rebuilding service provided by Power Train Technologies, located in Santiago, Chile, applies Timken engineered surfaces to the rollers of tapered roller bearings in wheel end systems. One Power Train Technologies customer experienced an average increase in bearing service life from 6,000 hours to over 16,000 service hours between rebuilds.
“Our goal was to improve the system performance of these trucks for our customers. The wear-resistant bearing coatings were one of the differentiators that allowed the end user to increase their overall performance,” said Sergio Parada of Power Train Technologies. “The results are even better than expected. We are now extending this same technology to other programs and projects”.
Timken engineered surfaces have been applied to tapered, spherical and cylindrical roller bearings. Common uses for engineered surfaces in mining equipment include applications with high operating temperatures, heavy loads and low operating speeds where debris and marginal lubrication are present.
Engineered surfaces from Timken can enhance bearing performance by providing debris resistance, reduced friction and torque, reduced component scuffing and smearing damage, increased life in thin film lubrication, decreased false-brinelling wear and oil-off protection. The engineered surface coatings feature a thin film, nano-composite, metal-carbide matrix design that provides extremely hard and ultra low-friction near surface properties. The diamond-like properties of these coatings inhibit micro-welding and adhesive wear at the roller and race interfaces, significantly minimizing metal-to-metal contact.
Timken offers customers a wide range of high performance solutions including corrosion-resistant, wear-resistant and debris-resistant bearings, as well as customized modifications to bearing materials, surface finishes and profiles.
Source: www.timken.com