Description

Spherical bearings are specified by several characteristics: OD, ID, ball width, race width and torque or clearance. Sizes are easily attained through machining operations on CNC equipment. Torque and radial clearance are not so easily attained.During the production of spherical plain bearings, a cylindrical race is swaged around a spherical ball. The swaging operation cold forms the cylindrical race around the ball. The deformed race is then machined back into cylindrical form on the OD to facilitate the roll release process. The roll release process currently consists of placing the assembly on two rolling cylinders and applying pressure through another cylinder centered above. The part is then rolled for a given time period at a given pressure to achieve the desired torque or radial clearance.This process is manual, from the pressure application (using a manual pressure regulator) to the time of pressure application (operator counts time or rotations). The combination of pressure and time is also determined by the operator since many combinations of the two inputs can achieve the desired output. What SC&A needs is an apparatus that would apply a given amount of pressure for a desired number of revolutions, both of which would be input into the apparatus by the operator. The pressure must be applied evenly at a controlled rate. The rotational speed must be controlled as must the number of revolutions prior to pressure being released. Finally, a process must be developed to determine the optimum speed/pressure/count combination to optimize production output while ensuring repeatability is not compromised. This project will utilize typical Mechanical Engineering skills such as strength of materials, controls, materials selection as well as budget and time management. Building of the apparatus will require skills such as machining, welding, wiring and component selection.