Bearings that heal themselves

摘要

The simple act of replacing one steel ball in a deep groove ball bearing by a ceramic one has opened up tremendous opportunities for the new SKF VU091 design. This new design results in a considerable increase in wear resistance when compared with a conventional all-steel bearing. The bearing has clear advantages in a wide range of applications, such as in industrial gear. boxes, fluid machinery and power tools where the traditional attributes of deep groove ball bearings are required, but the new bearing has the added built-in ability to reduce wear and fatigue-promoting stresses. The self-healing properties of the raceways also have a beneficial impact on the reduction of vibration and noise generated by the bearings.