Speaker
Description
The lifetime of pot bearings is one of the major sources of maintenance shutdowns on a continuous galvanizing line. However the lifetime between different lines can be very different whereas the general process windows may look the same
A simple model is proposed to quantify the expected wear rate, considering the bearing geometry and process parameters. A viable model would help operators understand if a decrease of the bearing life is linked to variations in the process window.
The model has been used to explain the differences in bearing wear on several CGL using the same bearing materials. Validation showed that the observed trend is in relation with the model prediction. Next step will consist in comparing various lines and maybe set some coefficients to include the differences in bearing materials used (e.g. superalloys and ceramic).
This model approach attempts to put a little more science into bearing lifetime prediction.
Keywords
Pot hardware, bearing, wear, sink roll