China's bearing enterprises are expected to make breakthroughs in the development of high-end industries

According to reports, another batch of high-end bearings, which are supported by major national equipment, have been produced on the Zhaxi shaft of Dalian, filling the gap in this field in China.

At the same time, Shanghai Electric's total investment of 500 million yuan in efficient and clean ultra-large wind power bearing production line technical transformation project was completed and put into operation, the first 3.6 MW offshore wind turbine bearing off the assembly line. Shanghai Electric from the introduction of technology to the joint design, and then to the independent development, in the bearing development out of a new road. At present, the technical development capabilities and process control capabilities of Chinese technical personnel have reached the international level. The cost is only equivalent to 2/3 of the imported bearings. After mass production, it is expected to drop to 1/2 of the imported bearings.

Although making up for the gap is not a day's work, domestic companies are keeping an eye on the world trend and gradually realizing the upgrading of high-end bearing product industries. They will change the long-term dependence of imported high-precision, high-reliability, and high-speed bearings on key technologies and equipment in many key areas in China. The situation.

Bearings are the soft underbelly of China's wind power equipment manufacturing In recent years, China's equipment manufacturing industry has developed rapidly. However, most of the high-end bearings for major equipment have relied on imports. Bearings and other core components have become bottlenecks in the development of major national equipment. "The rapid development of domestic high-speed railway, but the bearing has become a serious bottleneck. Europe and the United States currently can meet the high-speed rail bearing 350-400 kilometers per hour, and China's current high-speed bearings can only meet the EMU 150-180 km." For example, insiders say. In addition, high-end bearings such as large wind turbine bearings, deep-well drilling rig turntable bearings, and offshore drilling platform series bearings are also the weaknesses of domestic enterprises.

It is understood that an important use of precision large bearings is for wind turbines. Wind generator bearings include: yaw bearings, spindle bearings, transmission bearings, generator bearings and so on.

A person in charge of wind power equipment of Kyushu Electric told the reporter that as one of the important supporting equipment for wind turbines, the force and vibration of wind turbine bearings are complex, and they must withstand large shock loads, and the installation cost of yaw and pitch bearings is large. At the same time, the life of the host must be at least 20 years. Due to the harsh operating conditions and long-life high reliability requirements of wind power equipment, wind turbine bearings have high technical complexity and are recognized as one of the two most difficult localization (bearings and control systems).

Domestic wind turbine bearings rely on foreign imports for a long period of time, which is expensive, increasing the cost per kilowatt of wind power equipment, and also restricting the decline in wind power costs.

The domestic bearing enterprises are making progress in exploration. At present, domestic wind power bearings have gradually formed large-scale and serialized production. The main companies include tile shafts, Luo shafts, axis research technology, Fangyuan support, and Shanghai joint ventures.

According to the China Bearing Industry Association staff, wind turbine bearings, yaw bearings and pitch bearings of the technical threshold is relatively low, and the spindle bearing and speed increaser bearing technology content is high, generator bearings are basically mature technology Universal products. At present, the production capacity of domestic wind turbine bearing enterprises is mainly concentrated on yaw bearings and variable pitch bearings, and the main supporting equipment for wind power equipment below 3 MW is the main bearing. For spindle bearings and speed increasing bearings, basically rely on imports, only a few domestic enterprises Initial involvement.

It is understood that China’s bearing industry is far from being able to understand the design, manufacture, and testing technologies of wind turbine bearings. For example, what kind of bearing is the spindle bearing, and what type of slewing bearing is used for the pitch bearing is good? How to prevent the occurrence of cracks in bearing raceway and tooth quenching, how to ensure the hardness of the surface and the depth of the hardened layer are still in the process of exploration.

Difficulties, but did not stop the domestic bearing companies in the exploration forward. A group of domestic leading companies aimed at the world level, and revitalized the 16 key areas of the equipment manufacturing industry, market-oriented high-end bearings, implemented a strong investment, high-level, rapid output of technological transformation, has now formed a 1.5 MW, 2.1 MW, 3 MW wind turbine bearing all-round production capacity.

The relevant person in charge of Luoyang LYC Bearing Co., Ltd. told the reporter that they had just made an important breakthrough. The special-purpose testing machine for wind power gearbox bearings with independent intellectual property rights has passed the assembly, commissioning, and load testing. All technical performance indicators have reached the design requirements, filling the gap in the domestic bearing industry. The tester can complete the test of 18 sets of bearings in the speed increase box below 3 megawatts of wind turbines, provide the necessary test equipment and test methods for the gears of wind speed increase gearbox, and provide important bearings for the design and modification of bearings. The experimental data provides an important basis for the verification of the process method of the bearing product, thus providing conditions for improving the quality and level of the wind speed increasing gearbox bearing products.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Wazhou Group, they have built a wind power bearing production base with the most varieties of bearings, the largest production scale, the most complete supporting units, and the largest power generation in the world. They have reached three major technical fields: design and R&D, process manufacturing, and testing and testing. At the world level, it has become one of the few companies in the world that can provide bearings for 5 MW wind turbines.

During the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, the bearing industry is expected to achieve breakthrough. At the high-level seminars on bearing technology and industrial development held in high-end equipment manufacturing not long ago, many industry experts believe that one of the bottlenecks in the manufacture of high-end equipment in China is the lack of high-end bearings. At the same time, bearings are also the industries most likely to achieve the first breakthrough during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period.

Lu Bingheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes that high-end bearing R&D involves a series of technical problems such as materials, grease and lubrication, manufacturing, design, bearing manufacturing equipment, testing and testing, as well as contact mechanics, lubrication theory, tribology, fatigue and damage, and heat treatment. Basic research and cross-disciplines such as material organization. We must make key arrangements in industrial development policies and technological development plans to solve the problem of the lag in the development of high-end bearings in the equipment manufacturing industry. Only by organizing multi-faceted forces to tackle problems together and combining production, education, and research can we accomplish the task of moving toward high-end bearings.

As the largest comprehensive bearing manufacturing enterprise in China, Zhaxi Axle Group has accelerated the technological transformation and technological innovation for the entire industry in recent years. Wang Lushun, chairman of Wazhou Group, stated that as a participant in the national "973" project for major basic research projects, Wazhou Group is working closely with Xi'an Jiaotong University and other 8 participating companies to create a close cooperation model of production, learning and research to promote the production technology of the company. The organic combination of scientific research results hopes to find a feasible path for the overall breakthrough of the domestic bearing industry.