Load sensing bearings with fibre optic sensors allow designers to analyse and measure bearing loads in real-time, helping to accelerate the design cycle.

The bearings are interchangeable with conventional bearings and offer a number of benefits to designers and test engineers, including:

• Optimised design
• Lower development costs
• Shorter design cycle
• The ability to digitise the design and verification process

Original-equipment manufacturers and end-users can use the tool when testing and installing new equipment to check that the correct load and lubrication requirements have been defined and are not exceeded in the real installation.

The sensing bearings are also said to be safe for use in hazardous environments, as signal data is transferred at high speeds by low power in optical fibres rather than as electrical signals, making the system resistant to electromagnetic fields. It also enables remote monitoring where wireless technology cannot be used, as the optical fibres can transmit signals over long distances.

SKF released the first commercial load sensing bearing based on its proprietary fibre optic sensing technology. The new product streamlines the creation of rotating products such as pumps, using angular contact ball bearings.

The company states that its load sensing bearings for pumps and compressors simplify product development and speed up the design and verification process by giving real-time access to a variety of bearing data, such as axial versus radial loads, polar lots of the bearings’ internal strain field, strain spectra, load directions, speed of rotations and temperature.