The latest FAG medium frequency induction units from Schaeffler Australia deliver rapid, simple and safe heating performance to facilitate key bearing installation and maintenance tasks across diverse industries.
The versatile devices facilitate, in one unit, the mounting and dismounting of medium to large size rolling bearings and other ring-shaped steel parts, such as machine carriers and housings, reducing the amount of mounting work and cost in single and batch operations.
FAG units’ focussed heat induction and high energy density allow fast heating and particularly safe, energy efficient and environmentally compatible operation, with no oil involved in the process, says Schaeffler Australia Pty Ltd Industrial Services Manager Mr Mark Ciechanowicz.
The units operate over a frequency from 10 Hz to 25Hz, attaining a generator efficiency higher than 90 per cent. Functioning almost silently, they achieve lower mains connection power than heating devices with mains frequency.
FAG medium frequency induction heaters are ideal for applications across a wide diversity of industry, inside or outside, including mining and energy, oil and gas processing, heavy road and rail transport, materials handling including port loader facilities, manufacturing and steel, primary product and food and beverage processing, pulp, paper, packaging and forestry, and major infrastructure and water and waste recycling plant.
Specific applications include:
- Customised solutions according to the sizes of the bearings and parts to be heated for mounting and dismounting, flexible or fixed inductors so it can be tailored to individual company requirements and
- Batch dismounting of bearing inner rings and labyrinth rings (eg, axle box bearings in all rail vehicles, as well as dismounting of bearing inner rings from all rail vehicle traction motors)
- Heating of large machine elements, such as bearings or bearing seats in a machine carrier (eg, in wind turbines)
- Heating of rolling rings and couplings (eg, in steelworks)
- Loosening of shrink fit connections.
- Control of heating according to time and temperature – automatic demagnetisation.
Extremely versatile
The flexible inductors are attached directly to the part to be heated. If several similar parts have to be heated, the inductors can also be fixed to a frame. This saves time and costs, says Mr Ciechanowicz.
The compact air-cooled device comprises two parts: an inductor and a generator. The inductor can be of flexible design or fixed design. The fixed design is particularly suitable for batch applications.
The flexible design inductor can be wound around components. It can also be used with subframes to rationalise repetitive work. Overall, this gives a wide range of applications.
Because of their compact construction, the devices are easy to transport for use anywhere. The FAG medium frequency heating device is much smaller, lighter and consumes much less energy than equipment used with conventional methods. Their portability is a benefit where they are needed at infrastructure and electricity facility construction sites, for example, for turbines or other large components that are difficult to transport.