Automotive & motorsport
A formula for innovation T
he highest level of motorsport is a demanding testbed for advanced bearing technologies. In most applications, bearings and other mechanical components strive to achieve a long operating life at a reasonable cost. The companies that produce these products have spent decades refining their materials, designs and manufacturing methods in order to achieve these objectives. There are some sectors, however, where the
requirements are starkly different. It is hard to find a clearer example than Formula 1. “Reliability is vital in a Formula 1 car, but it is a ‘limited’ reliability,” says Andrea Rifici, an application engineer from SKF who works with the Scuderia Ferrari team. “Coatings and materials might need to perform properly for just five races, for example.” They may not need components to run for
years, but Formula 1 teams require them to work exceptionally hard. “This is an industry where the leading players are looking for solutions that go to the absolute limits of what is possible,” says Rifici. “And the products we provide for Formula 1 teams are all 100 per cent customised for the individual application.” The foundations of Formula 1 can be traced back to 1946, when it was defined to be the premier single seater racing category in worldwide motorsport. SKF has been a leading supplier of bearings for Formula 1 since the early days of its inception. Indeed, the company prides itself on not only its durable solutions but also its enduring relations in the sector, its technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari stretches back to 1947, for example. With dedicated application engineers supporting
most of the major teams, SKF products are used throughout the car. It provides ball, roller and plain bearings for wheel hubs, gearbox, clutch, engine, turbo, MGU and suspension components, as well as specialised support equipment, such as high-speed condition monitoring systems to track component performance. Application engineers like Rifici
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(DLC), and ceramic coatings on different bearing components. Seals and plain bearing liners are treated with special low friction coatings to help squeeze every last drop of efficiency from the car. Even the most advanced materials in the world
are no use if they can not be supplied to meet the frenetic pace of Formula 1 technical development, so SKF has also developed special product development and production processes to support the sport. “The speed of development is enormous compared to mainstream industry. Several product updates are required over one season to improve the performance of the cars,” says Wensing. “This requires a lot of flexibility for everyone involved from product development to the factories.”
typically have weekly meetings with the customers, and provide 24/7 support to the Formula 1 teams throughout the year.
Material advantage
In Formula 1, weight, friction and unexpected failures are enemies of high performance, and every detail matters. Components must be designed to withstand extreme loads, speeds and operating temperatures, while keeping their size and weight to an absolute minimum. That calls for exotic materials. “We use very hard powder metals for gearbox
and wheel bearings, high nitrogen steels, including our proprietary Nitromax alloy, and M50 (an extremely hard and heat resistant tool steel) for turbos,” says Jeroen Wensing the company’s innovation manager for Racing. “In most cases, bearing rollers are ceramic, in order to reduce friction and save power. Cages may be made from PEEK (a high performance polymer), titanium or steel. Plain bearings for suspensions and similar applications are made in steel, titanium or even aluminium, with special liners in PTFE and ceramic coatings on the ball.” Base materials are treated with high tech coatings
to further improve their performance. The company uses manganese phosphate, diamond-like-carbon
Off the track
Not every customer can afford to spend several hundred million dollars a year on cars they only drive at weekends, but knowledge and experience gained on the racetrack is also used to inform product development for applications in other industries. Jean-Sylvain Migliore is the manager of the SKF Racing Unit: “Our core mission is to transfer motorsport technology to our SKF colleagues developing solutions for automotive and industrial OEMs. The extreme conditions of motorsport provide a very fast and efficient way to test new developments. These innovations could be on the road – or used in other industries – within five to 10 years.” Recent changes in the technical regulations of
Formula 1 have been designed to accelerate that process of technical transfer. Experience gained with the motors and power electronics used in the cars’ kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) are informing the design of road going hybrid and EV powertrains, for example. And, thanks to a better understanding of their performance benefits, hybrid bearings that use ceramic rolling elements are now finding application in a broad range of applications outside motorsport.
SKF
www.skf.com February 2019 Instrumentation Monthly
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