Nonmetallic wheel bearings
Nonmetallic wheel bearings
(OP)
Greetings, fellow engineers!
I am seeking advice for our application, which is a completely nonmetallic wagon carrying an electromagnetic transmitter/receiver system. The current wheel bearing assembly has failed. It consists of zirconia-toughened alumina (AZT) bushings (~ 4" long, inserted into the wheel rims) with a carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymer shaft (a thin-walled, 1" O.D. tube) as a fixed axle. Failure occurred when the bushing abraded the shaft enough to seize, causing the shaft to rotate and to break free of the restraints on the wheel housing. A field repair (cleaning and reassembly with liberal amounts of white lithium grease) lasted two days, until the shaft itself broke in two. The load on the wheel ~60 lb, nominal service speed ~1 rev/sec, short-term max. speed ~4 rev/sec. Any ideas (especially using other materials with the same bushing-bearing design approach) would be greatly appreciated.
I am seeking advice for our application, which is a completely nonmetallic wagon carrying an electromagnetic transmitter/receiver system. The current wheel bearing assembly has failed. It consists of zirconia-toughened alumina (AZT) bushings (~ 4" long, inserted into the wheel rims) with a carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymer shaft (a thin-walled, 1" O.D. tube) as a fixed axle. Failure occurred when the bushing abraded the shaft enough to seize, causing the shaft to rotate and to break free of the restraints on the wheel housing. A field repair (cleaning and reassembly with liberal amounts of white lithium grease) lasted two days, until the shaft itself broke in two. The load on the wheel ~60 lb, nominal service speed ~1 rev/sec, short-term max. speed ~4 rev/sec. Any ideas (especially using other materials with the same bushing-bearing design approach) would be greatly appreciated.





RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
http://www.woodexbearing.com/
RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
Any suggestions for the non-rotating axle, which has to be 18 inches long and completely nonmetallic?
RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
What type of loads?
RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
The shaft has to be 1 inch O.D. and 18 inches long. The bearing (journal) surface is 4 inches. The shaft supports TWO wheels (side-by-side). A 4 inch long cylindrical spacer separates the bushings. The load on each wheel is 60 lb (120 lb total load on the shaft). Wheel rotation: 60 RPM steady operation; 180 RPM in short (10 sec) intervals.
RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
I would give each reference a call and discuss your problem, especially Norplx-Micarta as they have been extremely helpful in the past.
Carbon fiber the ultimate material.
http://www.bactechnologies.com/index.html
All the glass reinforced materials along with extruded unfilled material.plain.
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High strength:
http://ww
Internal lubricant:
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RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
http://www.jilson.com/radial.htm
Russell Giuliano
RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
Early on, we tried plastic bearings (delrin with glass balls). Unfortunately, they failed when the balls shattered. I will check the website you posted...perhaps we can revisit this.
RE: Nonmetallic wheel bearings
http://www.professionalplastics.com/TORLONBALLS