spherical bearings - Bearings - Alga Sferon
ALGALINK SFERON bearings are the result of the most up to date
technology. They have been developed for the bridges of the
high speed railways but are suitable for all kinds of structures.
Their main characteristics are the following:
• The sliding material is an innovative patented product, called
XLIDE, the result of research performed by ALGA in collaboration
with the Politecnico di Milano. The use of this product to substitute
for PTFE leads to the following great advantages:
- The useful life of the bearings is extended by a factor at least
5. It is well known that for bridges subjected to heavy traffic the
sliding material will continuously slide and will wear out after a
certain period. XLIDE has a resistance to wear at least 5 times
greater than PTFE
- The range of temperature of the bearings is extended to -50°C
instead of the -35°C for PTFE
- The dimensions of the bearings may be reduced because the
characteristic compression strength of XLIDE is more than
twice that of PTFE.
• The design rotation of the SFERON bearings is normally ± 3°
(0,05 rad). This allows the compensation not only of the elastic
rotations of the bridge but also that due to the inclination of the
beams or the manufacturing and installation tolerances of the
prefabricated beams. With such an allowable rotation the installation
of prefabricated beams is greatly simplified, avoiding the
use of expensive wedge plates. It is possible to achieve a considerable
saving and to speed up the erection of the beams
The fixed bearings may be equipped with a damping ring that will
equalize the horizontal loads when it is necessary to install 2 or
more fixed bearings on the same bearing axis. The damping ring
avoids the uncertainty of the repartition of the horizontal load allowing
it to be shared in equal parts between the different bearings
More details in our technical brochure.
