Tribology talk addresses abundant wear challenges

1st June 2018

By: Melissa Zisengwe

Creamer Media Reporter

     

Font size: - +

Last month, bearings and bushings manufacturer Vesconite Bearings chairperson Dr Jean-Patrick Leger presented a talk on the adventures and challenges in overcoming wear in different industries at the South African Institute of Tribology in Sandton, Gauteng.

Of the presentation, ‘Adventures in wear: From underground gold mines to desert railways to ocean floors’, Leger told Engineering News: “These are all the applications I had dealt with on the day I received the invitation and I thought they summed up all the challenges of overcoming wear in the industries.”

At the talk, he gave insight into several aspects of wear, including bearing production requirements for deep mines and mills, the selection of grease-free solutions for construction and transport equipment, providing oil-free bearings for small irrigation pumps or half-kilometre-long deep well pumps, solving rail/wheel wear on locomotives and rail wagons, offering solutions to reduce the number of dry-dockings of container ships, making racing yachts move faster, and developing longer life bearings for underwater turbines and remote-operated vessels working on the ocean floor.

“In applications, two surfaces rub and/or spin against each other causing friction and leading to wear. It becomes a real expense, for example, if a railway line experiences wear; it might have to be replaced, which would cost billions.”

Wear is one of the real expenses in the economy, with many industries, including agriculture, automotive, earthmoving, mining, marine, rail, hydro and renewable energy, having to deal with wear challenges, added Leger.

The company’s polymer, Vesconite, was created in response to challenges in wear in an underground mining environment.

Underground mines encounter severe wear problems because they are very dusty, owing to continuous rock blasting. Needle-like dust covers all the equipment and bushings, and is highly abrasive. The water in an underground mining environment also contains minerals such as sulphites, and this is also abrasive. The water, in turn, also gets into the bushings and leads to wear if the wrong bushings are used, he said.

However, with hard-wearing, tough Vesconite, these problems are addressed.

Further, Leger mentioned that using grease to lubricate applications presents companies with challenges such as requiring someone to lubricate the application all the time. This problem can be tackled with self-greasing Vesconite, which will also not contaminate water bodies that are polluted by grease when alternative bushings, such as brass bushings, are employed.

Edited by Zandile Mavuso
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION