NSK has worked with the global manufacturers of mining machinery to develop a package of tough, high-performance bearings that offer a longer service life under demanding mining conditions.

The CA series of bearings is designed to cope with the dust, mud, high loads and extremes of temperature that are encountered in mining and extraction environments.

It exceeds the limits of conventional bearings in terms of a longer operating life and limiting speeds, helping to deliver the high levels of reliability required in mining projects.

Developed for applications with heavy or shock loads - of the type encountered in jaw and cone crushers - NSK's CA series of double-row spherical roller bearings are manufactured with a machined brass cage to combat the effects of vibration, operating fatigue, wear and corrosion.

The CA bearings have high-load-rating durability and are resistant to wear.

Extending the CA range into harsh vibrating applications is NSK's CA-VS series of spherical roller bearings.

VS-series bearings have been optimised for use in harsh vibrating applications.

Their vibratory specification builds upon the extended load and life benefits of the standard CA construction with an optimised design that provides improved fatigue strength against the vibration and shock-load conditions encountered on screens, feeders and compactors.

In addition to addressing the problems of heavy shock loading and vibration, NSK is also providing benefits to mining and extraction industries by reducing maintenance and energy costs, as well as enabling product downsizing.

The bearing range that provides these benefits is the HP series.

HP-series bearings offer performance with twice the running life, compared to a conventional SRB of the same size, and a maximum limiting running speed that has been improved by up to 20 per cent.

Also providing improved performance benefits is NSK's EW/EM series of cylindrical roller bearings.

These bearings are used in: the differentials of off-road trucks; the transmissions and torque converters of crawler dozers; the transmissions of wheel loaders; and the speed reducers and hydraulic pumps used on hydraulic excavators.

The EW/EM-series CRBs are capable of carrying particularly large radial loads and are also suitable for high-speed applications.

The EW series features a pressed steel cage and the EM series includes a one-piece machined brass cage.

Both of these cage designs offer high-load ratings for standard-size bearings, in addition to a longer operating life - approximately twice that of a conventional CRB.

Additional equipment areas that are also benefiting from improved reliability and a longer operating life as a result of NSK's bearing development programme for mining are conveyors, feeders and general handling equipment, crane sheeves and mobile gantries.

The company's plummer-block ball-bearing units are used widely in mining and minerals extraction - on conveyors, feeders and general handling equipment - as a result of their tough construction and time-saving installation and mounting benefits.

The design of the bearings includes high-efficiency steel-reinforced seals and cast-iron bearing covers for added protection against dust.

Also benefiting from NSK's focus on improving bearing life in mining and extraction applications is a range of full-complement cylindrical roller bearings for use in crane sheeves.

These bearings are claimed to offer advanced levels of ingress protection with a sealing system that minimises grease leakage and increases resistance to the entry of water and other foreign substances.

Designed to provide maximum reliability and operating life in the difficult environments encountered in mines, quarries, ports and building sites, the full-complement bearings are supplied with phosphate surface treatment to improve their resistance to corrosion.

The ability of the bearings to provide reliable life in arduous environments is also enhanced by specially machined holes, which are provided on the inner and outer rings of the bearings to allow grease replenishment, even with the bearing in situ.

NSK has detailed its bearing products for mining machinery in a new publication.

The free 34-page booklet provides information regarding the choice of bearings for machinery used in the mining and extraction industries.

Free copies of the publication are available from NSK's marketing department.

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