The Curiosity rover that landed on Mars in early August features the largest, most advanced scientific payload of any Mars mission yet and most of its robotic functions depend on the faultless operation of mechanical bearings designed for operation in this inhospitable environment. Les Hunt reports.
Smalley flat wire wave springs from TFC are currently being used by shoe manufacturers for cushioning the soles of both athletic and casual shoes.
It can take as little as 30 minutes to replace a split roller bearing and even less time to inspect it; whereas solid bearings routinely take many hours, and sometimes days to replace and are notoriously difficult to inspect while in place. Yet overwhelmingly solid bearings comprise the major segment of rolling bearings in use in extraction industries today. Adrian Menzies explains why 'lowest cost' for the OEM is usually the most expensive for the quarry end-user.
The advantages provided by split roller bearings in delivering greatly reduced downtime compared with the performance of solid bearings are well documented: savings of 80 percent or more are achieved with SRB types on installation/disassembly due to their split-to-the-shaft configuration.
The installation of a 154m long hot strip runout table at a steel mill near Budapest, Hungary, required the installation of nearly 350 power transmission couplings to ensure reliable and continuous transportation of hot steel billets around the plant.