|
|
Article: Brutish bearings bear the brunt.
- Article from:
- Railway Age
- Article date:
- February 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Worried about roller bearing failures under extremely heavy axle loads? Don't fret. Today's bearings are designed to take a pounding and keep on rolling, mile after mile.
Research and development in freight car roller bearings is driven largely by the types of bearing defects that occur in the field. As freight cars get heavier--286,000 pounds gross rail load (110-ton cars) is the standard; 315K GRL (125-ton) is just around the corner-bearing suppliers are addressing such heavy-axle-load service life issues as bearing fatigue, lubrication, and fretting (with subsequent loss of clamp of the bearing on the axle journal).
"After loose bearings, the ...