PMB air bearings stands for the highest precision in balancing technology and are important for simple balancing to the smallest residual unbalance. The non-contact bearing on an “air bed” provides the best measuring results, protects the component surface and is virtually maintenance-free. The newest development of PMB air bearings for special tasks are the air bearings in “half-shell design”.
Air bearings for rotors in split (with mountable cover) or half-shell design (without cover, see picture) are used for components whose middle part has a larger diameter than the bearing journals and thus axial threading is not possible. The same applies if components mounted on the shaft, for example compressor wheels, prevent this. For the use of half-shell bearings, the rotor requires only one radial and axial bearing surface.
Whereas with the predecessors, the split bearings, the upper bearing shells still had to be removed for insertion of the shaft, this is no longer necessary with the newest generation – there are no longer any upper bearing shells. Here, the component is simply, quickly and gently placed on the lower shells and operated without an upper bearing shell. Medium-sized and large series in particular can now be realized with air bearing technology due to the simpler loading and the resulting greatly reduced cycle times. Due to the free accessibility from above, the balancing process can also be fully automated.
At PMB, customer components are checked to determine whether balancing in an air bearing is possible and sensible – this now benefits significantly more shaft types thanks to the new bearings. The bearing is then manufactured specifically to fit the component. This accuracy of fit then guarantees the precise, reproducible measurement results.
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