Gearbox bearing design is typically driven by shaft speed. Low-speed shafts normally use fixed profile journal bearings, often with simple cylindrical bores. High-speed shafts have historically used multi-lobe fixed profile bearings, but are increasingly using tilting pad journal bearings.
High-speed applications can require special material combinations and may utilize ‘Directed Lubrication’ to reduce pad surface temperature and improve efficiency.
On fixed profile (sleeve) bearings, Waukesha Bearings engineers the bore profile for stability, and further optimizes performance through bearing material selection and lubrication. Tilt pad bearings can provide even greater stability and give our bearing engineers additional mechanisms for optimization.
Waukesha Bearings offers fixed profile thrust bearings for lightly loaded applications and advanced tilting pad solutions for more demanding operating conditions. Tilt pad designs may be non-equalizing or self-equalizing with flooded or ‘Directed’ lubrication to support the application’s unique requirements.
With our in-depth understanding of system rotordynamics, Waukesha Bearings offers proven solutions to improve stability and control vibrations. Chief among those solutions, our ISFD® technology provides highly engineered damping and stiffness to maximize energy dissipation at the bearing locations. Flexure Pivot tilt pads eliminate pivot wear and maintain tight tolerances to offer high stability without degradation in performance over time.
Flexure Pivot Tilt Pad ISFD Technology Rotordynamic Analysis
Engineered polymers combine higher strength at elevated temperatures and higher fatigue strength than babbitt with comparable embedability and conformability. The result is a bearing surface that allows for operation with thinner films, providing high load capacity, reduced power loss and operation with low-viscosity lubricants.
A key difference between rolling element and fluid film bearings is expected bearing life. Rolling element bearings typically have a predictable life based on the operating conditions (the calculated L10 life). Fluid film bearings, when properly designed and maintained, can operate for decades.
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