Bearings for Mining & Heavy Industry
Mining and heavy industry is where bearings go to be punished: shock loads from crushing, dust and slurry contamination, shafts that flex under load, and maintenance windows that are measured in hours, not weeks. NKEN supplies the bearing families this industry runs on — spherical roller bearings, slewing rings and thrust bearings — with the executions plant maintenance teams actually ask for.
Built for shock, dust and misalignment
Crushers, mills and screens combine heavy radial load with shaft deflection, so a rigid bearing design is the wrong starting point. Spherical roller bearings carry the load on barrel rollers in a sphered outer raceway, which means the shaft can misalign without edge-loading the rollers. That self-aligning behaviour, in through-hardened GCr15 steel, is why the type dominates heavy plant. NKEN stocks the CA execution — machined brass cage, W33 lubrication groove and holes in the outer ring — because relubrication in service is what keeps a crusher bearing alive between planned shutdowns.
Stocked for maintenance, not just for OEMs
A mine does not order bearings on a production schedule; it orders them when a screen or mill comes down. The NKEN spherical roller range covers the 222, 223, 230, 231, 232, 240 and 241 series in one catalogue of 470 models with dimensions and load ratings published on the product page, and CA/W33 executions are regular stock lines — the 22314CA/W33 (70 × 150 × 51 mm, Cr 300.8 kN) is a typical example. K tapered-bore versions are supplied with adapter or withdrawal sleeves, so the bearing and its mounting arrive as one kit. Stock orders leave in 5 days, which matters when the alternative is a stopped plant.
One supplier for the whole flowsheet
Heavy plants standardise on few suppliers because every extra vendor is another quality standard to manage. From one NKEN inquiry a maintenance buyer can cover crusher and screen spherical rollers, excavator and crane slewing rings, and thrust bearings for heavy drives — all under the same ISO 9001 quality system and the same OEM branding programme if the bearings are stocked for resale. Send the designations from your last failure or your planned shutdown list, and we quote the set together.