Folz Gleitlagertechnik GmbH (Püttlingen, Germany):

Folz F.-J., Dr.Eng., Design & Development, e-mail: drfolz@gleitlagertechnik-folz.de

Asku-Scholten GmbH (Duisburg, Germany):

Kleinjan O., Dr. Eng., General Director

Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH (Duisburg, Germany):

Burchartz B., Dr. Eng., New Activities

Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH (Salzgitter, Germany):

Hueske K.-D., Mag. Eng., Honorary Head of Steelmaking Works

The article describes operating results from the re-equipment of Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH in 1999/2000 with 26 steel and mixing ladles of the latest generation and a payload of 375 t. At the steelworks of Salzgitter Flachstahl in Germany the bearing arrangement was adapted to the existing 250-t vessels. High wearand heat-resistant trunnion bearing arrangement on new steel ladle design at Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann with higher homogeneous thermal field at lower temperature gradients are displayed. The findings from theory and experiment are confirmed by the many years’ experience available today on the whole. A newly developed heat-treatable / hardened tribological pairing made of manganese steel will achieve a service life of at least 10 to 12 years as a trunnion mounting on heavy duty steel and pig iron casting ladles even without lubrication; whereas the average service life of conventional tribological pairings made of ferritic steel and miscellaneous copper alloys or other steel matrices is only 0.4 to 0.8 years, despite intensive periodic lubrication. The new pairing makes it possible to reduce significantly the lubrication or render it quite unnecessary. In addition to significant savings in costs and resources, the new steel friction bearing leads to a considerable environmental protection. Loss of resources by using old contact partner steel / copper alloy in a German steelworks as well as estimated cost savings in Germany by the use of the new bearing arrangement and estimated loss of resources in Germany by using old slide-pairings based on steel/copper alloys are compared. The operational reliability will also undergo a sustainable increase.

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