coneWafer-Cooling tunnels

Technical

Probable causes of bearing failure

	16%	Poor fitting Around 16% of all premature bearing failures are caused by poor fitting (usually brute force...) and being unaware of the availability of the correct fitting tools. Individual installations may require mechanical, hydraulic or heat application methods for correct and efficient mounting or dismounting. SKF offers a complete range of tools and equipment to make these tasks easier, quicker and more cost effective, backed up by a wealth of service engineering know-how. Professional fitting, using specialized tools and techniques, is another positive step towards achieving maximum machine uptime
	36%	Poor lubrication Although 'sealed-for-life"bearihgs can be fitted and forgotten, some 36% of premature bearing failures are caused by incorrect specification and inadequate application of the lubricant. Inevitably, any bearing deprived of proper lubrication will fail long before its normal service life span, because bearings are usually the least accessible components of machinery. Neglected lubrication frequently compounds the problem. Wherever, manual maintenance is not feasible, fully automatic lubrication systems can be specified by SKF for optimum lubrication. Effective lubrication, using only recommended SKF greases, tools and techniques, helps to significantly reduce downtime.
	14%	Contamination A bearing is a precision component that will not operate efficiently unless both the bearing and its lubricants are isolated from contamination. And since sealed-for-life bearings in ready-greased variants account for only a small proportion of all bearings in use, at least 14% of all premature bearing failures are attributed to contamination problems. SKF has an unrivalled bearing manufacturing and design capability and can tailor sealing solutions for the most arduous operating environments.
	34%	Fatigue Whenever machines are overloaded, incorrectly serviced or neglected, bearings suffer from the consequences, resulting in 34% of all premature bearing failures. Sudden or unexpected failure can be avoided, since neglected or over stressed bearings emit early warning signals, which can, be detected and interpreted, using SKF condition monitoring equipment. The SKF range, includes hand-held instruments, hard-wired systems and data management software for periodic or continuous monitoring of key operating parameters.