Circular economy

Nothing lasts forever. Moving machine components are exposed to cyclic stresses that lead to fatigue and, ultimately, to failure. Equipment operators want to avoid such failures in production, and the industry has evolved sophisticated ways of calculating the likely lifetime of critical parts. This will allow companies to select components of a size and specification that will meet the expected operating life of a machine, or to plan in-service replacement before the rating life is reached.

Sometimes, however, events intervene to prevent a component achieving its full potential lifetime. In the case of bearings, for example, surface damage caused by trapped debris or sporadic lubrication failures can degrade performance long before fatigue becomes a risk.

When those issues occur, the affected bearings must be removed and replaced. But owners don’t have to discard the damaged parts. Increasingly, worn bearings are able to enjoy a productive second life, thanks to sophisticated remanufacturing capabilities.

Read the full article in the December issue of DPA