X-life – Proven to be Better

The load rating is the measurement of the force or load that a machine element can support. If this is exceeded under permanent load, the element (e.g. a rolling bearing) may prematurely suffer permanent damage. While the static load rating is based on a static machine element, the dynamic load rating describes the load limit of a machine element in motion, e.g. a rotating bearing. The high load rating of X-life bearings is down to their particularly even surfaces and optimized internal geometry.

The consistent further development of rolling and plain bearings offers significant potential in terms of the functionality, cost-effectiveness, and reliability of industrial applications. After all, the total operating life of a plant is dependent to a large extent on the reliability of the bearings. Schaeffler's FAG and INA brands offer bearings with the X-life seal of quality that deliver outstanding performance. Because these products have a higher dynamic load rating than the previous standard, their rating and operating life is significantly longer. This feature can alternatively be utilized as a way of increasing the load carrying capacity or reducing the size of the design envelope.

The high performance of X-life bearings is down to the manufacturing technology used. The surfaces that serve as the contact surface between the rolling elements and the raceway are manufactured to be especially even, and the internal geometry ensures that the contact surfaces are optimally positioned in relation to one another and the loads inside the bearing are distributed evenly. As a result, there is a reduction in the stress conditions present on the rolling elements and mating track under identical load. This produces a higher dynamic load rating and thus a longer rating life, less friction, lower bearing temperatures, and a reduction in the strain placed on the lubricant.

The higher load rating can be translated into a range of product characteristics, depending on the application. The rolling and plain bearings can also be designed in such a way that they can support significantly higher loads while maintaining the same rating life. Alternatively, the increased power density can be used to create a smaller component with the same characteristics – when a construction machine only has a small amount of space available for the installation of a spherical roller bearing, for example. The INA and FAG brands are continuously expanding their portfolio through the addition of new X-life bearings with optimized performance characteristics in order to fulfill customers' requirements and increase the cost-effectiveness of machines and equipment.

For more than ten years now, X-life has been the seal of quality for particularly high-performance products from the INA and FAG brands. The catalog range is continuously being expanded through the addition of new and performance-optimized X-life bearings that allow customers' requirements to be fulfilled and the overall efficiency of machines and equipment to be increased. The X-life variants are consistently and permanently replacing the catalog products.

INA offers a wide range of needle roller bearings and radial insert ball bearings, housing units, full complement cylindrical roller bearings, axial angular contact ball bearings for screw drives, yoke and stud type track rollers, and multi row linear recirculating ball and roller bearing and guideway assemblies in X-life quality.

Cylindrical, tapered, and spherical roller bearings, axial spherical roller bearings, single and double row angular contact ball bearings, and four-point contact ball bearings are available under the FAG brand name. Recent additions to the range include spherical and cylindrical roller bearings with outside diameters of up to 1,600 mm.