Witbank-based Arrow Bearings & Transmission reports that its Rexnord 5000 premium series bearings range, which is being used on a crusher application at a local power station, has to date reduced the use of the bearings on the crusher application by more than 50%.

Sales and technical manager Levin Naidoo says that, in 2005, Arrow Bearings & Trans-mission was requested to investigate the reason for the extensive use of bearings on a crusher application at the power station. The findings of the investigation determined that the shock loads and severe 
contamination were the prim-ary cause of the bearing failure.

This resulted in the company introducing its Rexnord 5000 premium series bearing range to the application, which has, since 2005, cut use down by more than 50%.

“The savings in rands does not only stop at reducing the use of the bearings, but extends to the overall down time of the plant. The Rexnord 5000 premium series bearing can be fitted within 20 minutes using one tool, compared with conventional bearings, which take more than sixty minutes using an assortment of tools,” says Naidoo.

He says that the Rexnord roller bearings are being supplied to the power generation and mining sectors. The bearings represent about 90 years of bearing technology and experience built on the original Shafer bearing design comprising an inner ring race, which forms a segment of a sphere, roller-shaped concave to run on the spherical surfaces of the inner and outer races and spherical outer races to contact the rollers.

Naidoo adds that the retainers and the outer race align the rollers. Despite any misalignment, the roller load is always equally distributed, preventing high edge load stresses on the rollers.

Meanwhile, the company is currently working on two ongoing projects for State-owned power utility Eskom.