Design and construction of a zinc pot bearing material wear tester

There are more than fifty galvanizing lines in the U.S.A. producing galvanized steel sheet by the method of pulling a steel sheet over a roller that is submerged in a liquid zinc bath. Although highly competitive, this product is very lucrative for the Steel Industry. The objective of this research is to assist the U.S. Steel Industry in becoming more competitive with foreign imports by reducing line stoppage for bearing replacement, which currently might be as long as one week to a month.;A great variety of wear and corrosion resistant zinc-pot bottom roller bearing metals and ceramics have already been developed. A small, laboratory-size testing machine was designed to measure wear and friction coefficient on new bearing materials as a function of contact pressures, velocities, and time. It was designed for safety and ease of use. Once the friction coefficient and the wear of the material have been determined, possible correlation between these two parameters may be found in the future