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Tags: greases
Once the required grease volume has been calculated, you will need to determine how often to apply that amount
of grease. This timeframe is known as the regreasing frequency. This calculation is more complex. The machine’s
operating conditions must be collected along with some additional bearing information.
Temperature is known to affect both grease and oil, so naturally one of the first correcting factors that must be
collected is operating temperature. The hotter the environment, the more frequently the grease must be
replenished. The ambient contamination (how dusty the environment is) and moisture (how humid the
environment is) work in a similar manner. The dirtier and wetter the environment, the more often the bearing
must be regreased.
Simple things like the bearing’s physical position and vibration will also affect the grease’s run-out and frequency
of reapplication. If the bearing is mounted on a vertical shaft, the grease has a tendency to run out of the bearing
quicker, thus needing to be replenished more often. When the bearing is subjected to vibration, it causes the oil
in the grease to separate from the thickener, allowing it to drain away from where it is needed much faster.
Therefore, these two correcting factors — position and vibration — should be taken into consideration.
The final correcting factor is that of the bearing element shape. This is important because each different element
stresses the grease differently. For instance, a ball rolling across the race churns the grease differently than a
spherical element, which churns the grease much more heavily.
Below is a chart of these correcting factors and how they operate together. Once
they have been calculated properly, the final pieces of the puzzle are the bearing ID
and speed of rotation. Through some simple math, you are left with a run-time (in
hours) frequency for regreasing. This new timeframe and real-time feedback from
the ultrasonic probe will allow you to fine-tune the frequency to the optimum level.