With the efforts of the mining industry, one of the prospects for short-term relief is the decline in certain operating costs such as fuel, labor and electricity, due to falling commodity prices, tight credit tensions and investor panic, and in recent years Mining boom in the steady growth.

However, even a substantial decline in these costs may not be sufficient to withdraw the project from the cancellation or to free it from the cut unless they add additional cost reductions. In this case, one of the most vulnerable functions of the organization is equipment maintenance and repair, as we and the business management seek ways to reduce these costs without compromising worker safety or machine productivity. A low-risk option to maintain acceptable performance is provided by bearing regeneration manufacturing and maintenance services to major bearing suppliers such as Timken. Regardless of the original manufacturer, various bearing types can provide a wide range of services.

The repaired bearings, according to the required service level, can usually be quickly restored to similar new specifications, saving up to 60% of the new bearing cost. Timken’s experience in this field shows that successful repaired bearings can provide a life cycle that is comparable to the initial service life of the bearing.

There are several terms that describe the interchangeable bearing service options in the industry, but do not necessarily reflect the same scope of work to be performed. These include:

The repair includes a variety of services that can be performed on the bearing. In general, the term can be applied to any level of work performed on the bearing.

Re-certification, involving certified bearing services. This is usually applicable to unused products with outdated shelf life.

Repair, including polishing, honing or rolling bearing components to eliminate very small surface defects (mainly rust or corrosion), if not removed may cause more extensive damage.

Remanufacturing, which is the process of removing corrosive surface damage by using a grinding or hard turning process. This also includes the replacement of any unusable components.

Bearing repair advantages

The initial bearing design takes into account the use and application of the bearings and predicts the service life and fatigue life. Factors such as improper installation, contamination, insufficient lubrication, or misalignment tend to cause the bearings to deviate from these expectations. In fact, according to Timken’s data, less than 10% of the bearings used in mining applications have reached their design life.