Steel mill continuous casters require low speed, start/stop and high temperature service from roller support bearings. Grease lubricated anti-friction bearings are prone to failure under these conditions. SEA has developed a water only caster bearing which eliminates the risk of catastrophic failure and the dependence on grease/oil lubrication. This bearing can be retrofitted to existing pillow blocks or chocks and typically requires only 1-2 GPM water.

Rolling mill drive spindle carrier bearings are used to support the weight of large steel mill drive shafts. Water or grease lubed bearings are common. SEA has developed a composite bearing, using phenolic resin bonded materials with inserts of self lubricating polymer materials, which can provide a wear life increase of 10x or more.

Wear pads with self lubricating inserts are common in the steel and aluminum industries. These designs typically use graphite pastes as the insert material, with the properties of the paste inserts vastly inferior to the host material usually bronze, cast iron or steel. The SEA concept is to use inserts which have superior strength, so that the total pad bearing capacity of the wear pad is increased by use of inserts.

The graphite-iron composite bearing was in 700°F service as a conveyor support bearing. Wear was not a problem, but after a few weeks, when the shaft and bearing became totally conformal, frictional chatter became objectionable. With the impregnation of TRIBOLITE^® SB grease, frictional chatter has been either removed or postponed for 6 to 12 months, at which time a re-application of the grease restores quiet operation.