Software Offers More Help With Bearing Choices

The latest version of Schaeffler UK's bearing selection and calculation software offers engineers even more information, as well as a wider range of support services that enable users to get to the right information faster than ever before. When selecting, sourcing and evaluating different bearing or linear guide designs, engineers need to have access to the correct product data, at their fingertips, so that they can rapidly design the optimum solution for their customer. To locate the right data or to calculate a bearing's service life, many engineers rely on their own experience. They spend time wading through pages of technical catalogues to find the right information or the right formula to calculate a safety factor or maximum load rating. But this wastes valuable time - time which most design engineers these days simply do not have. Even if a design engineer is already confident about which type of bearing or linear guide he or she requires for their particular application, accessing the appropriate 2D or 3D model - in the right CAD format - isn't easy. Schaeffler (UK) offers engineers a solution in the form of its bearing selection, calculation and technical support software, Medias. The software, which is freely available either as an online tool or CD-ROM, is a comprehensive guide to all Schaeffler products, including rolling bearings, plain bearings, linear guidance systems, a bearing housing assistant and information on the company's complete X-life range. The software caters for all engineers, regardless of their skills or experience of bearings and linear guidance systems. Whether the user requires a simple, 2D dimensional drawing; a list of suitable lubricants for a particular bearing arrangement; a downloadable 3D model; or a detailed design calculation of a bearing's frequency or service life - Medias has it all. And the statistics speak for themselves: 2500 Medias users per day, performing more than 8000 service life calculations and downloading more than 2500 CAD models per month. There are three main routes to finding the correct product or information using Medias. First, users can choose to select a bearing based on key design criteria or characteristics, including whether, for example, the load is radial or axial, whether the bearings need to be sealed or unsealed, shaft diameter or whether the bearing needs to be very compact. As the user selects different options, the number of product variants is restricted, and a shortlist of possible bearing products is presented on screen. Second, the user can opt to select a bearing using the pictogram method. This search method is designed for users who do not yet know which bearing they need for their application. All they know are the functions which the bearing must provide for the application. Clicking the pictograms for the desired functions reduces the selection tree so that only those products with the desired functions remain visible on screen - greatly simplifying the search. Third, for users who are familiar with which bearing they require, but who also need additional information about that product, users can search using the direct search facility, which, within a few clicks, takes users to the appropriate bearing. Performing relatively simple bearing design calculations is one of the software's greatest strengths. Once a design engineer has selected the right product, they may wish to know, for example, whether it offers them the desired service life. The calculation section within Medias enables design engineers to calculate bearing life by entering certain design criteria such as shock factor, average operating temperature, load data, speeds and the type of movement involved in the application. If users exceed permissible performance limits, warnings and notes are displayed on screen. The latest version of the software, Medias version 4.2, goes even further, allowing users to save their calculation data. The software remembers these calculations, so that engineers can optimise a particular bearing arrangement. It also means they can select the most suitable bearing for the application, which precisely achieves the desired service life. Once a bearing has been selected and the required calculations performed, users can also take advantage of the software's comprehensive CAD download section. Engineers can quickly download a 2D or 3D CAD model (all popular CAD formats are supported) direct to the CAD system on their PC. For a free CD-ROM, contact Schaeffler UK.