Why is Bearing Installation So Important?
Why is Bearing Installation So Important?
The importance of bearing installation lies in its direct relation to the operating accuracy, stability, reliability, and service life of mechanical equipment. Improper installation may lead to frequent equipment failures and even premature scrapping.
The importance of bearing installation.
As a crucial component of mechanical equipment, the installation quality of bearings is of utmost importance. Precise installation is the cornerstone for ensuring the efficient and stable operation of equipment. It can guarantee high-precision during mechanical operation, enabling all components of the equipment to work in harmony and fit seamlessly. If there are installation deviations, it will not only cause abnormal vibrations and noises but also exacerbate component wear, resulting in a significant increase in energy consumption and a substantial reduction in equipment stability. Moreover, improper installation can easily cause failures, shorten the service life of the equipment, increase maintenance costs and downtime, and bring serious losses to production. Therefore, standardized and scientific bearing installation is a necessary condition for achieving good equipment performance and ensuring the orderly progress of production.
Precautions During Bearing Installation
Preparation Before Installation
– Inspect Parts: Check the dimensional accuracy, form accuracy, and surface quality of the bearings and related parts to ensure there are no defects or damages. At the same time, confirm that the dimensions, shapes, and surface roughness of the journal and housing bore that cooperate with the bearing meet the requirements.
– Clean Parts: Use a clean cloth or special cleaning agent to thoroughly remove oil stains, iron filings, dust, and other impurities from the surfaces of the bearing, journal, housing bore, etc., to prevent impurities from entering the bearing and affecting its performance and life.
– Prepare Tools: Prepare appropriate installation tools, such as presses, sleeves, hammers, pullers, etc. Avoid directly hitting the bearing with a hand hammer to prevent damage to the bearing.
Installation Proces
– Fit Selection: Select the appropriate fit method according to the type, size, and working conditions of the bearing. For interference fits, the hot installation or cold installation method can be used. In hot installation, the bearing is heated to an appropriate temperature to expand its inner diameter and then sleeved onto the journal. In cold installation, the journal is cooled to reduce its size and then inserted into the inner hole of the bearing.
– Installation Direction: For bearings with direction requirements, such as angular contact ball bearings and tapered roller bearings, they must be installed in the correct direction to ensure that the bearings can withstand loads normally.
– Installation Accuracy: Ensure the installation accuracy of the bearing during installation, and make sure that the coaxiality and perpendicularity of the bearing with the journal and housing bore meet the requirements. For high-precision bearings, such as machine tool spindle bearings, the installation accuracy requirements are even higher, and professional measuring tools are required for inspection and adjustment.
Inspection After Installation
– Clearance Inspection: After installation, check the clearance of the bearing to ensure it is within the specified range. Excessive or too small clearance will affect the performance and life of the bearing.
– Lubrication and Sealing: Select the appropriate lubricant and ensure that the bearing is well lubricated. At the same time, install an effective sealing device to prevent lubricant leakage and the entry of external impurities into the bearing.
– Operation Inspection: During the trial operation stage of the equipment, closely observe the operation of the bearing, including temperature, noise, vibration, etc. If any abnormalities are found, stop the machine in time for inspection, identify the cause, and take measures.
Common Installation Faults of Bearings
Incomplete Installation
– Manifestation: The bearing is not fully installed in the designated position, resulting in a gap between the inner or outer ring and the shaft shoulder or housing bore shoulder, and they are not closely fitted.
– Consequences: The bearing will bear uneven loads during operation, generating additional stress and deformation, accelerating the wear and fatigue of the bearing, reducing its service life, and in severe cases, may lead to bearing failure.
– Causes: Improper use of installation tools, uneven installation force, insufficient dimensional accuracy of the shaft or housing, etc.
Improper Fit
– Manifestation: An overly tight interference fit causes the inner ring of the bearing to expand or the outer ring to shrink, changing the original clearance of the bearing. An overly loose fit causes the bearing to slide relative to the shaft or in the housing bore.
– Consequences: An overly tight fit will increase the friction and heat generation of the bearing, affecting its normal operation and may even cause the bearing to seize. An overly loose fit will make the bearing operation unstable, generating vibrations and noises, and also exacerbate the wear between the bearing and the mating surface.
– Causes: Inaccurate selection and calculation of the fit tolerance, and excessive dimensional deviations of the journal or housing bore due to insufficient processing accuracy.
Damage During Installation
– Manifestation: Scratches, dents, cracks, and other damages occur on the raceway, rolling elements, or cages of the bearing.
– Consequences: It damages the surface quality and accuracy of the bearing, causing abnormal noises and vibrations during the bearing’s operation, reducing its load-carrying capacity and service life. Severe damage may lead to immediate bearing failure.
– Causes: Using improper tools to directly hit the bearing during the installation process or colliding with other parts during the assembly process.
Sealing Problems
– Manifestation: The sealing device is installed incorrectly or the seal is damaged, resulting in lubricating oil leakage or the entry of external dust, moisture, and other impurities into the bearing.
– Consequences: Lubricating oil leakage will prevent the bearing from being well lubricated, exacerbating wear. The entry of impurities into the bearing will contaminate the grease, increase friction, accelerate the wear and corrosion of the bearing, and reduce its performance and life.
– Causes: Poor quality of the seal, damage to the seal during installation, inappropriate dimensions of the seal groove, etc.
Lubrication Problems
– Manifestation: Excessive or insufficient application of grease, improper selection of the viscosity of the lubricating oil, or insufficient cleanliness of the lubricating oil.
– Consequences: Excessive grease will cause excessive heat generation during the bearing’s operation, affecting heat dissipation. Insufficient grease cannot form a good oil film, increasing friction. Inappropriate viscosity will affect the lubrication effect, and insufficient cleanliness will allow impurities to enter the bearing, accelerating wear.
– Causes: Insufficient understanding of the bearing’s lubrication requirements, unreasonable design of the lubrication system, or lack of attention to cleanliness when adding lubricating oil.
The price of production assemble.
Bearings of different types and specifications have different prices and installation difficulties. For example, deep groove ball bearings are relatively easy to install, while tapered roller bearings usually need to be installed in pairs and have their clearances adjusted, which is more difficult and results in higher labor costs. The installation cost of small bearings is relatively low, while that of large or special – specification bearings is higher. In economically developed regions and large cities, due to high labor costs and rents, the installation price will also be on the high side; in small and medium – sized cities and economically underdeveloped regions, the price is relatively lower.LDB-Bearing will give you best service.
