Mark Manegold is a degreed mechanical engineer with over 25 years of industry experience in applications analysis, design, and project management. He currently is the technical marketing manager at AST Bearings.
Manufacturing, chemical processing, food and beverage, construction, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, and power generation industries all employ the use of turbomachinery. Reliability and minimizing downtime are critical in these applications. Rolling bearings are integral to the operation of pumps and compressors and must be able to withstand moderate to heavy loading and harsh operating environments. A wide variety of ball, roller, and needle bearings can be found in these machines; however, this article will focus on the most common type of bearing used, the deep groove ball bearing.
Food production is an essential, but often overlooked, component of our food chain. Reliable, efficient machinery plays a key role in the food processing industry—and ball bearings are essential to the performance of this equipment. Designers and engineers are faced with important decisions when specifying bearings used in food processing equipment, which must withstand challenging operating environments while meeting stringent safety requirements.