Reconditioning in the Steel Industry

The customer receives a reconditioned bearing for an average of approximately 50% of the original price. No costs are incurred for defective bearings. As a result, the lifecycle costs are reduced and the operating life of the bearing is increased. Within a short throughput time the bearings are returned to the customer ready-to-fit. As a result of reconditioning, the customer can make annual savings within the lower five-figure range. In addition, the delivery times are shortened and reconditioning produces only approximately five percent of CO₂ emissions, which would otherwise be generated during the production of a new bearing.

As Schaeffler Belgium’s portfolio did not previously include the reconditioning of spherical roller bearings from continuous casting plants, Schaeffler’s biggest competitor predominantly provided this customer and other steel works with this service.

Schaeffler Belgium has extended its range of services to include rolling bearing reconditioning independent of the manufacturer. This service takes place in various reconditioning stages. Each bearing from the stainless steel plant that requires reconditioning is first of all inspected in order to determine the condition of the bearing. Following this, maintenance is carried out on the bearings that are slightly damaged, and reconditioning on the bearings that are considerably damaged.

Technical Information about the Plant
Stainless steel plant
Annual production: Approx. one million tons
Voest Alpine caster with FAG spherical roller bearings:

• 23220-E1A-M-C4

• 24122-E1-C4

• 24024-E1-H40AC-C4

• 24026-E1-H40AC-C4

• or similar competitors’ plants

 

Technical Information about the Solution
Assessment/Inspection:

• Cleaning bearings

• Checking and assessing bearings

• Measuring bearings

• Creating inspection report

Reconditioning:

• Polishing the bore and outer surface

• Polishing the raceways and rollers (optional)

• Replacing wear parts (optional)

• Preserving bearings

• Packaging and sending bearings