Lubricant-Free Strand Guide Roller with Permeable Bearing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing strand guide rollers in continuous casting plants require lubrication to prevent water ingress into bearings, leading to complex cooling systems and maintenance challenges, and are not suitable for lubricant-free operation.
Innovation Solution
A strand guide roller design featuring a fixed axle with permeable rolling bearings made of corrosion-resistant steel, allowing cooling fluid to flow through and eliminating the need for lubrication, combined with helical cooling channels for efficient peripheral cooling and a simplified cooling fluid distribution system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional roller bearings are used with barrier lubrication to prevent water ingress, then bearing protection is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional grease separation systems
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the lubrication function from the bearing system by using a lubricant-free roller bearing design. The bearing interior is made permeable to cooling fluid, allowing direct contact between cooling water and bearing components, thereby removing the need for grease barriers and associated separation systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The roller bearing is designed with a permeable bearing interior that allows cooling fluid to pass through. This porous/permeable structure enables direct cooling of the bearing components while eliminating the need for lubrication barriers, as the cooling fluid itself provides both cooling and protection functions.
2Temperature
If peripherally cooled roll shells are used with separate rotary inlet, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases due to complex and sensitive rotary inlet component
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the separate rotary inlet component from the cooling system. Instead, the cooling fluid is introduced directly into the bearing interior through the permeable bearing structure, simplifying the cooling fluid distribution system while maintaining effective cooling of the roll shell.
Solution Approach 2:
The permeable bearing interior acts as an intermediary that distributes cooling fluid directly to the bearing components and roll shell. This eliminates the need for complex rotary inlet mechanisms while ensuring effective cooling through direct fluid contact with bearing elements.
3Reliability
If additional grease is used for barrier lubrication to prevent water ingress, then bearing protection is improved, but loss of substance increases due to grease escaping and mixing with cooling water
Solution Approach 1:
The invention completely removes the lubrication function and grease substance from the system by using a lubricant-free bearing design. The permeable bearing interior allows cooling fluid to直接接触 bearing components without any grease barrier, eliminating grease escape and separation requirements entirely.
4Reliability
If resilient inner and outer races are used to prevent seizing due to thermal deformation, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to specialized bearing design
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameters of the bearing components by using corrosion-resistant steel with appropriate elastic properties. This allows the bearing to withstand thermal deformation and prevent seizing through material selection rather than complex resilient race designs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enables reliable lubricant-free operation, reduces maintenance complexity, and allows for dry casting, while preventing grease separation and corrosion, enhancing environmental sustainability and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
cooling fluid flows through the needle bearing during operation... bearing interior that is permeable to the cooling fluid and open to the cooling channel
Implementation Method 2
cooling fluid flows through the roller bearing during operation... for receiving a cooling fluid and for cooling the roll shell
Implementation Method 3
At least one element from the group of the outer ring, the inner ring and the rolling bodies, at least one rolling bearing is designed to be elastically deformable in at least one direction orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the axis
Implementation Method 4
The rolling bearing, which is made of corrosion-resistant steel and designed for lubrication-free operation
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a strand guiding roller (1) comprising a stationary shaft (3), at least one roller sleeve (5) coaxially surrounding a shaft section of the shaft (3), and for each roller sleeve (5), at least one cooling channel (40) for receiving a cooling fluid, extending along the inner surface of the roller sleeve (5), and at least one rolling bearing (7) for rotatably mouting the roller sleeve (5) around the shaft (3). The rolling bearing (7) is adjacent to the cooling channel (40) and comprises a bearing inner space (9) which is permeable to the cooling fluid and open to the cooling channel (40), such that cooling fluid can flow through the rolling bearing (7) during operation. In addition, the rolling bearing (7) is made from a corrosion-resistant steel for a lubricant-free operation. Furthermore, the rolling bearing (7) is elastically deformable in at least one direction orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the shaft (3).