Maintec show
What - Maintec exhibition and conference Where - NEC, Birmingham When - 17-19 March 2009
Lubrication - Smooth operator
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of lubrication-free chain products on the market - and manufacturers are continuing to develop more. But why do we need so many different types of lubrication-free chain and what precisely do manufacturers mean by the term 'lubrication-free'?
Sound of silence
Ultrasonic tools are invaluable in detecting bearing failure, mostly because warnings appear well before any temperature rise or low frequency vibration can be seen. In fact, the technology recognises everything from early fatigue failure, through brinelling to lubricant problems.
Stem the flow
These days, industrial lubrication has two main purposes: first, to ensure by some mechanical, electronic or outsourced human means that machine mechanisms receive timely lubrication; and, secondly, that this lubrication should be as environmentally friendly as possible. This can mean reducing toxicity, locking up lubricants in the bearing material, choosing bearing materials that are lifetime lubricated or doing away with the need for lubrication altogether. Centralised lubrication systems that pump grease into bearings without human intervention are attached to the main axle bearings on many UK passenger trains. And while this may add cost in capital terms, the savings achieved in terms of reduced maintenance costs and enhanced reliability are enormous.
Better crystal balls
With a breakdown in plant sometimes so catastrophic (failures of lubrication pumps have resulted in shutdowns of more than a year before new parts could be made), it is astonishing that so few plant engineers make use of increasingly sophisticated, easy and low-cost equipment to monitor and predict trouble.
When increased profit is a chain reaction
The performance of existing plant and machinery can sometimes be markedly improved by the simplest of modifications, such as retrofitting a better quality transmission chain