The Dudley, UK factory of The Timken Company supplies the engineered bearings it manufactures into a multitude of industries including mining, food and beverage, pulp and paper, cement, marine and waste water. Recently there has been a significant increase in demand for larger bearings up to 1,200 mm in diameter for use in the construction of wind turbines, which promises exponential growth in the coming years as countries across the globe work towards meeting their green energy targets.
In May 2021, to enable the company to inspect these larger bearings, it purchased an AlteraM 15.12.10 ceramic bridge coordinate measuring machine (CMM) with axis travels of 1,500 x 1,200 x 1,000 mm manufactured by LK Metrology, Castle Donington. Assisting further in Timken’s quality control department is a Mitutoyo CMM capable of measuring ball and roller bearings with bores up to 800 mm in diameter. This machine was upgraded at the same time by LK with a new controller and identical CAMIO 2021 software for measurement, programming, analysis and reporting so that inspectors are able to swap programs conveniently between both machines.
Find out more at: Investment in quality control of engineered bearings helps green energy initiative - LK Metrology