Over the past few years FAG Aerospace GmbH & Co. KG, part of the Schaeffler Group’s Aerospace Division, has developed into a leading global development partner and supplier of special rolling bearings to the aerospace industry. The company’s product spectrum includes main shaft and gearbox bearings for aircraft engines, gearbox and rotor mast bearings for helicopters, turbopump bearings for rocket engines as well as special bearing supports for satellites and spacecraft. Further applications for the extremely reliable and technologically leading special bearings can be found in nuclear and medical technology and other fields too.
A preferred supplier and development partner
Today FAG Aerospace is the preferred supplier and development partner in all current projects for aircraft engines, gas turbines and helicopters. FAG Aerospace is the sole supplier of bearings for both engine concepts designed to power the Airbus A380, as it is for the engine bearings for Boeing’s “Dreamliner” 787. The same applies to the current development projects for the A350 and the A400M military transport aircraft from Airbus as well as for numerous present-day helicopter projects in Europe and North America. In the field of space applications, FAG Aerospace supplies its bearings for the turbopumps used in the Space Shuttle engine and for the currently developed Delta IV and Ares V launch vehicles, to name just a few.
Reconditioning reduces life cycle costs
In addition to the development of new, innovative rolling bearing solutions for aero-space applications, FAG Aerospace is also a leading provider of reconditioning services for aerospace bearings. This helps customers reduce life cycle costs whilst maintaining their high standards in system reliability. In order to offer this service, companies are required not only to be approved by the most important civil aviation agencies, FAA, EASA and CAAC, but also to hold official OEM repair approvals from engine manufacturers like Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, GE, CFM, Avio and IAE. The reconditioning methods and quality inspections are directly monitored and audited by the engine manufacturers. FAG Aerospace is also certified and approved according to NADCAP and AS9100 and other relevant standards.
Maximum quality and reliability
Rolling bearings in aircraft and rocket engines are subject to extreme stresses. High thrust forces and extreme temperatures push the components to the limit of their performance capacity. At the same time, they must meet the most stringent safety requirements. This means FAG Aerospace has to supply products of maximum quality and reliability whilst offering high innovation dynamics at the same time. Research and development are therefore advanced at an especially high pace, for example when it comes to material development. Here the company develops special steels that can withstand extreme loads and speeds, for example when combined with ceramic rolling elements.
Worldwide, FAG Aerospace sets the technological standards in terms of maximum performance capacity and maximum reliability in these innovative threshold areas. Its experience, knowhow and intensive R&D efforts also benefit the other Schaeffler Group divisions that adapt the results of the intensive technology exchange to fit their own requirement profiles. One example is thin section bearings for helicopter swash plates. Today these bearings also permit high speeds, absolutely precise positioning accuracy and minimum noise development to be achieved in the latest CT scanners, which in turn provide supreme imaging quality and a comfortable envi-ronment.
Rolling bearings improve energy efficiency
The subject of energy efficiency has now also found its way into modern aircraft engine technology. The Boeing 787, for instance, is tuned especially to low fuel consumption and needs about 20 percent less fuel than comparable aircraft generations. The engine bearings play a special part in this respect. Schaeffler Aerospace’s newly developed bearing support concept integrates functions and adjacent components such as vibration damping mechanisms or housing parts. Moreover, the bearings systems use highly heat resistant special steels exclusively.
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