METHODS FOR ASSESSING THE TECHNICAL CONDITION OF BEARING HUBS IN MEANS OF TRANSPORT

This article presents two methods of testing bearing hubs, which may supplement the existing subjective and unreliable methods of diagnostics of rolling bearings used in wheel bearing hubs of motor vehicles and other means of road transport. One of the most important elements responsible for the safety of a vehicle is the bearing hub. Regular monitoring of the technical condition of bearings should become an obligation at vehicle inspection stations when carrying out a technical inspection of a vehicle, authorising it to travel on public roads. This article presents the results of vehicle tests with signs of damage to rolling bearings, using two test stands: one on which the dynamic balancer acted as a device for accelerating the wheel, and the other, which was designed as a test dedicated to automotive rolling bearings, where a dynamic weighbridge was used as the wheel drive, made it impossible to test the wheel at lower rotational speeds. The newly designed and manufactured bearing testing device eliminates the disadvantages of the previous stand, and additionally, enables the measurement of a fully loaded bearing hub, which enables the simulation of real operating conditions on the bearing hub.