Read and think
Technological innovation is the core driving force for the upgrading of the bearing industry. In the current increasingly fierce competition in the global manufacturing industry, only by accelerating the advancement of "digital" and moving towards "intelligence", and strengthening the in-depth integration and application of digital intelligence technology in the entire chain and every link of the bearing industry, can we break through the bottlenecks of traditional industry development and realize the upgrading of the industry to high-end and intelligent industries.
Xu Xu Li Shupin Gao Yingmai
Research Institute of Informatization and Software Industry, China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute
Bearings are the 'joints' of industry, and their technological level directly affects the development of high-end equipment manufacturing. During a visit to Luoyang Bearing Group in Henan in May this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that modern manufacturing depends on scientific and technological empowerment and called for stronger efforts to overcome technical challenges and pursue independent innovation. China's bearing industry is currently developing rapidly. In 2024, national bearing-industry operating revenue grew by 6.20% year on year, bearing output rose by 17.3%, and the industry's scale remained firmly in third place worldwide for another consecutive year.
In the rapid development of my country's bearing industry, technological empowerment has played an important role in helping companies seek more initiative in international market competition.
Focus on industrial transformation and upgrading
At present, technological innovation has become the core force driving the transformation of my country's bearing industry. Some bearing companies are breaking through the traditional R&D, production, management, and industrial chain collaboration models through innovative applications of digital intelligence technology, accelerating production efficiency improvements, cost optimization, and high-end intelligent upgrades, driving industrial development towards higher quality and more competitiveness.
The first is to deepen the integrated application of digital twins and big data technology and optimize the research and development design paradigm.
Use multiphysics virtual simulation to shorten product development cycles. During research and design, integrate CAD/CAE and other tools through a digital twin platform to simulate bearing load distribution, wear trends, and other characteristics under complex conditions such as high speed, heavy loads, and extreme temperatures. This helps optimize structural parameters and improve design iteration efficiency. For example, Wanxiang Precision uses a digital twin platform to simulate production in a virtual environment and optimize equipment parameters, shortening the product development cycle by 20%.
Luoyang Shaft Research Institute innovatively develops bearing product parametric design software and process parametric design software to build a new bearing research and development model.
Carry out data-driven R&D and innovation to optimize product designs. Integrate data with the bearing R&D and innovation process, using data models and intelligent algorithms to shift the innovation paradigm from physical testing and verification toward discovering innovative solutions from data. In designing wind-turbine main-shaft bearings, Zhejiang Tianma Bearing established a closed-loop R&D system of data training, design generation and virtual verification. Load-spectrum data from 100,000 bearings in service was used to train a deep-learning model that automatically generated 300 structural designs. After simulation-based screening, the resulting new bearing offered a 3-fold increase in fatigue life and a 15% reduction in weight.
The second is to deepen the collaborative application of intelligent equipment and digital systems in key scenarios and promote the intelligent upgrading of production processes.
Focus on manufacturing by building and upgrading intelligent production lines through coordinated hardware and software. Luoyang Bearing Science & Technology has built an intelligent production line for wind-turbine gearbox bearings. A robot vision system automatically picks up parts for loading and unloading, highly sensitive temperature sensors provide online temperature compensation, and real-time data analysis automatically adjusts the grinding feed to ensure consistent and stable bearing machining accuracy. Huangshi C&U is accelerating intelligent production-line upgrades and reshaping manufacturing through applications such as intelligent online quality inspection, online operating-condition monitoring, and intelligent automated high-bay warehousing.
Focus on quality control and carry out intelligent product quality testing based on AI. The inspection robot independently developed by Harbin Group can identify hair-level deviations and improve product consistency through machine learning optimization algorithms. Henan University of Science and Technology