Replacing the slew ring bearing of a caster turret needs teamwork between the contractor and steel shop to ensure that the work is completed with minimal outage. A 10-day stop is typically achievable. Steel plant engineers are faced with providing cost effective maintenance solutions whilst minimizing the impact on operational availability and safety. Many continuous casting machines and their key components are approaching the end of their useful design life. One such component is the caster ladle turret (Fig 1) and in particular its main slew ring bearing. Monitoring a slew ring bearing throughout its life reveals a gradual increase in the internal clearance until a critical point is reached, beyond which the rate of wear accelerates. It is at this point that the bearing should be changed. However, the age of the bearing is not necessarily the predominant factor - original design criteria, use and lubrication efficiency all play a part.
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