Mitul Dave, Managing Director, CCTY India, talks on choosing the right planetary gear bearing manufacturer who will fully understand your application requirements.
Planetary gear bearings are found in travel motors, swing motors, and drive axles. Their ability to handle heavy loads in a small space envelope makes them ideal in for these applications. However, these intense requirements make the bearing selection and design critical. That is why it is important to choose a planetary gear bearing manufacturer that fully understands your application requirements.
Look for a manufacturer who works with your design team to formulate the right solution.
A consultative approach should focus on finding ways to provide a reliable bearing solution with low friction and a long service life.
Important elements to discuss with your bearing manufacturer are discussed here.
Precise Geometric Calculations
The calculations behind planetary gear bearing design must be exact. The bearing’s functionality relies on the accuracy of a series of critical calculations that involve geometric principles taking into account the entire spectrum of load and speed duty cycles.
Working with a manufacturer like CCTY Bearing with the knowledge and capability to design a custom solution to maximise the load capacity and life for a specific space envelope gives you a significant edge on the engineering front.
Material Selection
For most applications, steel with a fine grain and low non-metal inclusion should be used. A manufacturer that has ISO9001 or TS16949 certification inspects all incoming steel to verify that it conforms to the standards.
Heat Treatment Processes
Highly controlled heat treatment ensures that the final product is hardened to a specified level – significantly improving wear resistance and reducing exposure to potential bearing failures.
It is also imperative to know if the manufacturer has their own heat treatment on-site or if it is subcontracted. Precision manufacturers like CCTY Bearing maintain all critical processes – including heat treatment – in-house for heightened control on the final product.
Meticulous Grinding and Turning
High level of automation consistently produces bearings with tight tolerances. Turning and grinding are two areas that greatly benefit from a more exact methodology that only robotics can provide.
Verifying these aspects of production before starting a planetary gear project will translate into a compact design with low noise and vibration – benefiting your steering systems, powertrains and articulated joints.