Napoleon Engineering Services Bearing Inspection and Testing Programs Reduce the Risk of Premature Bearing Failure

Napoleon Engineering Services’ unique Source Qualification Inspection (SQI) program allows the client to qualify new suppliers through a series of extensive inspections. According to Chief Engineer, Chris Napoleon, “SQI is the first step in any bearing qualification program. Armed with this data, we are now able to identify the bearing manufacturers design intentions, manufacturing capability and overall quality of workmanship. This information is vital to making decisions about how a product might work in the application.” Napoleon adds, “SQI is also used to determine performance differences between bearing suppliers and allows for the enhancement of the technical data on the OEM’s requirement drawings, saving both time and money in future qualification endeavors.” Other inspection programs such as failure analysis, dimensional inspection, and chemical and metallurgical evaluation are offered to suit a variety of inspection needs.

To further reduce the risk of using new bearing suppliers NES utilizes its extensive array of bearing test rigs to ensure that the bearing meets application demands. “The testing process is determined based on the typical failure mode of the bearing in the application,” says Napoleon. “When bearing life is jeopardized due to contamination from a breakdown in seal efficiency, we test bearing seal effectiveness in environmental mud slurry or dust box test rigs. Should bearing failure be endurance related, we perform life testing to determine life adjustment factors of different bearing suppliers.” The OEM is now able to relate how well a new supplier might work in the application in a relatively short period of time and has valuable technical bearing data to make informed purchasing decisions.

With the increased amount of offshore bearings being used in applications today Napoleon Engineering Services’ bearing inspection and testing programs instill the buyer with confidence that the bearings will perform efficiently within the application. Premature bearing failure is a major concern, but if the proper actions are taken this problem can be controlled.