Exploring the Key Technological Trends Impacting the Bearing Industry on a Global Scale

Jul 05, 2023

Machinery relies heavily on rolling bearings as crucial components. These bearings not only minimize friction but also bear loads and transfer power, efficiently operating machinery. The bearing industry, which has been dominated by established brands for decades, is a traditional industry. However, with new materials and trends emerging in recent years, the market has become more dynamic than ever before.

Bearing manufacturers are proactively responding to market changes in order to adapt. The primary changes in the bearing market include the following aspects.

1. Bearing customization and integration

The rolling mill industry is witnessing a surge in the adoption of "integrated bearings", where the bearing's surrounding components are made an integral part of the bearing. This innovative approach aims to minimize the number of components in the final equipment that include the bearing, resulting in reduced equipment costs, improved reliability, easier installation, and longer equipment life. The global demand for "application-specific solutions" is also contributing to the development of new special bearings, as the bearing industry strives to meet the needs of its customers.

2. Life prediction and simulation

Sophisticated simulation software tools are utilized by bearing designers to ensure that bearing designs perfectly match the actual operating conditions. Nowadays, computer software for bearing design and analysis is capable of predicting the bearing performance, life, and reliability based on sound engineering application conditions. By eliminating the need for years of costly and time-consuming laboratory or field testing, the development and production can be accelerated.

3. Condition monitoring and intelligence

As the demands placed on equipment assets continue to increase in terms of efficiency and throughput, it has become crucial to identify the onset of failure. Such unexpected equipment failures can be quite costly and potentially catastrophic. Unplanned downtimes can result in production losses, urgent and expensive part replacements, and pose safety and environmental hazards. To avoid such scenarios, bearing condition monitoring is used to dynamically monitor various equipment parameters and detect failures before they become catastrophic. Bearing OEMs are continuously developing "smart bearings" that come equipped with sensors to continuously output working conditions through internally powered sensors and data collectors.

4. Advances in materials and coatings

The bearing industry has made significant progress in enhancing the durability of bearings, even when subjected to challenging operating conditions. This has been achieved through the use of advanced materials such as special coatings, ceramics, and specialized bearing steels that can significantly enhance performance and improve efficiency.

In some scenarios, bearings can operate effectively without proper lubrication thanks to the use of specialized materials, specific heat treatments, and unique geometries that enable them to withstand extreme temperatures, particle contamination, and heavy loads.

Recent years have seen tremendous progress in improving the surface structures of metal and adding wear-resistant coatings to rolling elements and raceways. One major development in this area is the use of tungsten carbide-coated rolling elements that are highly resistant to wear and corrosion, making them suitable for use in high-stress, high-impact, low-lubrication, and high-temperature environments.

The bearing industry is working towards meeting regulatory requirements for emissions, while also considering strategic decision factors such as environmental regulations, lighter products, lower friction, lower noise, and higher reliability expectations in their R&D efforts.