Waukesha Bearings custom engineers products to handle even the most extreme machinery requirements. Expert engineers carefully select bearing materials and mechanical design to achieve the desired performance and a long bearing life, critical for applications such as refrigerant and air compression, vehicle turbochargers, and power transmission.
Typical factors that affect material selection include load, speed, operating temperature, insulation requirements, and lubricant type and cleanliness. Depending on the requirements, material options include babbitt (whitemetal), bronze, aluminum tin, polymer, ceramic, cermet and diamond.
For mechanical design, engineers design bearings to the proper size to handle the required loads and minimize power loss. They also incorporate features to tune the bearing’s dynamic characteristics and control the dynamic performance of the equipment – to the point where the bearings can limit vibrations.
From high speeds and loads to the need for operational flexibility, Waukesha Bearings has the solution.
Waukesha Bearings custom engineers tilt pad and fixed profile journal bearings to specific operating conditions. With specialized features, such as ‘Directed Lubrication’, our bearings are designed to transfer radial loads with minimum power loss and optimum dynamic characteristics. Combination journal/thrust bearings are available for applications with limited space.
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 unique requirements of turbomachinery.
Through the application of polymer, ceramic or diamond bearing surfaces, Waukesha Bearings extends the operating limits of fixed profile and tilt pad bearings. Advanced materials can permit operation in process fluids, extend temperature limits or allow for increased load capacity.
Flexure Pivot tilt pads achieve low cross-coupling and high stability through flexure and rotation of a center post, while eliminating pivot wear and high contact stresses. The design is particularly suited to high-load, high-speed, small-diameter shafts.
A key difference between rolling element and fluid film bearings is the expected life of the bearings. 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.
Waukesha Bearings brush seals can minimize leakage gaps in compressors and increase operational efficiencies. The compliancy of a brush seal allows sealing clearances to be significantly reduced, while its low profile allows simple integration with labyrinth seals.
MLSF® bearings employ a multi-lobe semi-floating bearing design to improve stability and temperature compared to conventional floating ring bearings. They are designed to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and increase mean time between repair (MTBR).
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