Posted to News on 15th Feb 2009, 00:00
NSK tailors bearings to the needs of the beverage industry
To enable customers to meet the demands of a broad range of applications in water, alkali and strong acid environments, NSK has developed the Aqua-Bearing, a special, highly corrosion resistant bearing for light load applications in the operating temperature range up to 40°C. The use of a special fluorine plastic for the inner and outer rings and a fluorine plastic cage, enables the Aqua-Bearing to achieve corrosion resistance equal to ceramic bearings and better than that of previous generations of plastic rolling bearings made of PE (Polyethylene) or PPS (Polyphenylene Sulfide).
The effectiveness of NSK's materials specification means that the Aqua-Bearing is even able to handle applications in strong acids or alkalis, ozonized water, various kinds of vapour and halogen gases.
In addition to providing improved corrosion resistance, the fibre-reinforced fluorine material gives the inner and outer bearing rings increased strength and rigidity. It also provides an endurance life of over 1,000 times that of A1S144OC stainless steel bearings and five times that of previous PE (Polyethylene) bearings under a light load in an acid solution. For operations in corrosive environments where higher temperatures are encountered (up to 200°C) NSK has developed Spacea bearings with (nickel coated) inner and outer rings of Martensitic stainless steel, ceramic balls and fluororesin cages.
