SKF launches world's first hybrid bearing life model

The Generalized Bearing Life Model (GBLM) developed by SKF will ensure that company users and distributors always choose the right bearing for the right application.

So far, it has been difficult for engineers to predict whether hybrid bearings will perform better than steel bearings in specific applications, or whether the performance benefits brought by hybrid bearings are worth their extra investment.

Since the conventional equations used by engineers to calculate the rated life of bearings cannot reflect the true performance of hybrid bearings, in order to solve this problem, in 2012 SKF engineers began to develop the generalized bearing life model (GBLM).

Although the main version of the model was launched at the HANNOVER MESSE in 2015, at this stage, the model is not ready to take on the calculation tasks of hybrid bearings. Because SKF Dutch and Austrian technologists need four years to integrate this function into the generalized bearing life model.

Using a generalized bearing life model, engineers can determine the practical advantages that hybrid bearings may have. For example, if it is a poorly lubricated pump bearing, the rated life of the hybrid bearing will be eight times that of the steel bearing. At the same time, for screw compressor bearings running with contaminated lubricants, the service life of hybrid bearings will be a hundred times that of traditional steel bearings.

Currently, the ability to select bearings through SKF Bearings has been provided to SKF users and distributors. The bearings selected from SKF Bearing Company can be used as hybrid deep-groove ball bearings and hybrid cylindrical roller bearings.