Meet the masters of science friction

Thanks to advances in manufacturing technology, modern bearings don’t fail like they used to. Years ago, the main issue was sub-surface fatigue, explains SKF Principal Scientist, Guillermo Morales-Espejel. Today, most failures are triggered by surface-related problems, such as poor lubrication, contamination, frictional heat, or electrical damage.

With degrees in mechanical engineering from Mexico and a PhD in tribology from Cambridge, Morales joined SKF’s research lab in 2000 to study surface issues in bearings.

One early project simulated bearing performance in mixed lubrication environments, where contamination or a lack of lubricant creates areas of direct metal-to-metal contact within a bearing. Another study evaluated the effect of small indentations, which can occur if a bearing is mishandled during manufacturing, shipping or assembly, on the bearing life.

Life, in general
In 2012, a new Technical Director approached Morales with a bigger challenge. “He said our bearing life models were useful, but they were too rigid,” recalls Morales. “It takes too much effort to adapt the model to different problems or to integrate new knowledge.”

The Technical Director's request was simple but daunting. Could Morales and his team take what they had learnt about the effect of surface conditions on bearing life and build a general-purpose model that would better predict bearing life in the real world?

Read the full article in DPA's December 2024 issue