HIPERAX thrust bearings made using VICTREX® PEEK™ polymer provide excellent tribological properties and wear resistance in harsh pumping environments
HIPERAX thrust bearings made using VICTREX® PEEK™ polymer provide excellent tribological properties and wear resistance in harsh pumping environments
Article Type: New materials and equipment From: Pigment & Resin Technology, Volume 37, Issue 4
Thrust bearings show minimal wear after three years of demanding operation despite the presence of system debris
Thrust bearings designed and developed by US-based Waukesha Bearings Corporation implementing VICTREX PEEK polymer have proven successful after 3 years of continuous use. HIPERAX bearings have been installed in wet wound heater lift pumps by Weir Engineering Services Ltd The bearings manufactured from VICTREX PEEK 450FC30 are insert moulded onto a substrate by High-Performance Mouldings of Sandiacre Nottingham.
According to Dr Guy Pethybridge, Global Product Manager for Waukesha Bearings Corporation, “Waukesha saw the need to develop a thrust bearing solution that could handle high-load capacity in water-lubricated applications. We developed the HIPERAX thrust bearing and decided to implement VICTREX PEEK into the design because of its unique set of excellent tribological properties and attributes. The combination of our design expertise and the properties and wear resistance of VICTREX PEEK polymer resulted in the development of HIPERAX thrust bearings. The HIPERAX bearings can support loads of up to 8 MPa whilst running continuously in water at 65 C.”
“VICTREX PEEK polymer bearings provide an alternative in both oil-lubricated applications and those lubricated by the process fluid. These bearings combine excellent surface properties with a high-working temperature. In the conventional oil-lubricated environment, the polymer-faced bearing will run hotter than its metallic counterpart because of the low thermal conductivity of the material. In practice, this leads to thinner working oil films compared to metallic surfaced bearings, but, because of the improved surface properties of the polymer materials, the actual load capacity can be higher. The benefits of a polymer solution can be summarized as: higher operating temperatures up to 250°C (480°F); higher load capability; corrosion resistance when operating in process fluids; and high-electrical resistivity (better than 109Ωm).”
“It is clear that the designers of the next generation of pumps have many options available to cope with the wide range of pump operating conditions. Our HIPERAX thrust bearings made with VICTREX PEEK are still in use after 3 years of operation with minimal wear, despite the presence of system debris such as rust, which certainly proves polymers offer significant benefits in the right circumstances,” concluded Dr Pethybridge.
About Victrex
Victrex plc is the leading manufacturer of high-performance materials,including VICTREX® PEEK™ polymer, VICOTE®Coatings and APTIV™ film. These materials are used in a variety of markets and offer an exceptional combination of properties to help processors and end-users reach new levels of cost savings, quality, and performance.
The company is headquartered in the UK. Invibio®, Victrex’s biomaterials business, provides access to specialized products and services for medical device manufacturers. Victrex Japan, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victrex plc. For further information, please visit web sites: www.victrex.com or www.victrex.mobi
VICTREX is a registered trademark of Victrex Manufacturing Limited. PEEK,PEEK-HT™ and APTIV are trademarks of Victrex plc. VICOTE is a registered trademark of Victrex plc.
About Waukesha Bearings
Waukesha Bearings is a leader in the design and manufacturing of fluid film and active magnetic bearing solutions for turbomachinery. The company has engineering, sales and manufacturing locations in the USA, UK and Mexico as well as representative offices in China, Japan and Italy. As an integral part of the strategic alliance agreement, Waukesha Bearings is opening a branch office in Moscow.
For further details, please contact: Joachim Preiss, Marketing &Communication Manager Europe, Tel.: +49 (0)6192 964926, e-mail: jpreiss@victrex.com
Claire Walker, Techworks Asia Ltd, Tel.: +44 (0)1296 620201, e-mail: claire@techworksasia.com
