New ZKL bearings for rolling stock

In February this year, the new axle bearing, type PLC 810-13, produced by the ZKL company was approved to be used on electric units Class 471 City Elefant. This fact was preceded by the number of successful tests on ZKL test stations and the Railway Research Institute (VÚŽ) Praha test stations, as well as through trials on EJ 471 012.

There is a tapered unit with permanent grease corresponding to a present trend of leading firms in the world which produce bearings and seek to increase utility parameters of axle bearings. Moreover, it is the first bearing of that type, having been produced in the Czech Republic. The compliance with requirements of the Czech standard ČSN EN 12080:2008 confirms the received certificate by the VÚŽ Praha. The ZKL brings thus a good alternative to domestic producers and operators of rolling stock because they can buy this product at the local market and are not dependent on foreign suppliers anymore. The development of bearing was supported through the program TIP MPO ČR within the project FR-TI2/316.

In the framework of the TIP program – Research and development - the ZKL company is also developing bearings for traction engines within another project FR-TI2/221. One of the outcomes of this project is also the bearing with a ceramic insulating coating on the outer ring of resistance to the passage of electric current. Resistance of this layer is guaranteed up to 1 000 V DC. The first working sample for testing was handed over to the customer at the beginning of February.
A new range of bearings for railway vehicles is presented in ZKL catalog and Web site www.zkl.cz.