NSK bearings reduce concrete floor manufacturing machine failures to zero

Regular bearing failures in a concrete floor manufacturing machine were leading to extensive downtime, costly lost production, and high maintenance costs. To rectify the problem, the customer turned to the expertise of NSK for a redesigned wheel hub and stub axle assembly.

The construction industry relies heavily on the uptime and reliability of its machinery to ensure that demanding build schedules do not fall behind. Time is money, so unforeseen delays due to faulty equipment can prove extremely expensive, both in terms of financial costs and disgruntled customers.

Repeat failures of the concrete floor manufacturing machine were of serious concern to the customer’s management team and a solution became an urgent priority. An investigation of the machine and its failed bearings by NSK’s expert team of engineers found that the main problem was with the cassettes, due to poor wheel design and the ingress of contamination (as a result of incorrect bearing specification). Arduous operating conditions are normal for this high-value construction process.

The solution was far from straightforward, requiring NSK to propose a complete redesign of the wheel hub and stub axle assembly, including a sealed roller bearing unit selected specifically for the machine’s loads. By incorporating NSK’s full-complement sealed bearing units, secured by circlips in the outer ring, it was possible to increase the load rating. Furthermore, integral seals provided greater protection for the bearings.

The customer followed the proposals and produced a new shaft and housing to accept the redesigned NSK hub assembly.

NSK’s full-complement cylindrical roller bearings offer improved contact seals to prevent the ingress of foreign particles and water, a high load rating (radial and axial) and a corrosion-resistant phosphate coating to ensure suitability for external environments. The bearings are pre-lubricated with lithium grease and offer easy replenishment via inner and outer ring re-lubrication holes. If required, a snap ring (DIN 471) can be applied to the outer ring.

By reducing failures from 20 a year to zero, the customer is achieving savings of €68,607 per annum thanks to the elimination of downtime and replacement parts, along with reduced maintenance costs. As a final point of note, NSK also provided on site consultation detailing best-practice lubrication and assembly.