For rail cars, operating temperatures matter. By monitoring the temperature of cars’ wheel bearings, a regional railway network in Asia is gaining insights it uses to schedule predictive maintenance, thereby enhancing safety, reliability, and service throughout its 262-kilometer passenger and cargo network.

Bearing Temperatures Predict Failures

Monitoring the working temperatures of the bearings is one of the most effective methods in the prediction and prognosis of failures because it is an excellent indicator of bearing status. Excessive temperatures inside bearing casings directly affect the performance of the bearing lubricant. When that lubricant becomes too hot, it suffers the effects of catalytic decomposition and oxidation, which accelerate the degradation of the bearing until it locks or breaks.

The Solution: Thermax Temperature Indicator Strips

Thermax® temperature indicator labels are a simple, inexpensive, irreversible, fast, safe, and reliable option for monitoring the maximum temperature of bearings during operation.

There’s no setup, and no activation. Simply stick these irreversible, self-adhesive temperature measuring strips to the axle box. Then maintenance technicians can perform regular temperature checks at a glance, just by noting whether their color has changed to black. When above-normal temperatures are recorded, the color change serves as a warning that the bearings inside are suffering excessive wear.

Thermax temperature measurement strips record the highest temperature reached by an object. Maintenance technicians, therefore, can know whether normal operating temperatures and safety limits have been exceeded and, if so, by how much.

Thermax temperature measurement strips are available in multiple shapes, sizes, and temperature ranges to accommodate various applications. Temperature thresholds range from 29°C/84°F to 290°C/554°F. Accuracy is ±1° at temperatures below 100°C, ±1.5°C between 100°C and 154°C, and ±1C + 1% at 160°C to 280°C.

Because Thermax temperature measurement strips do not tear when removed, they can be attached to an inspection report as a permanent record for quality control and audits.

This railroad considers Thermax temperature indicators an effective way to identify the conditions that lead to bearing failures and, therefore, an essential tool for the company’s maintenance engineering activities.

Related Case Studies