Resources

Technical Papers

Branagan, M., Morgan, N., Goyne, C., Fittro, R., Rockwell, R. and He, M., 2020. Hydrodynamic Performance Characteristics of a Fluid Film Journal Bearing With a Rectangular Jacking Pocket. Journal of Tribology, 142(2).

Branagan, M., Griffin, D., Branagan, L., “Numerical Analysis of Long, Cylindrical Bore Bearing Including Shaft Bending”, Proceedings of 18th EDF/Pprime Workshop, 2019.

September, 2018, “Effective Fluid Film Bearing Damage Assessment”, Fleet Modernization and Maintenance 2018, Virginia Beach, VA.

Deng, X., Weaver, B., Watson, C., Branagan, M., Wood, H. and Fittro, R., 2018. Modeling Reichardt’s formula for eddy viscosity in the fluid film of tilting pad thrust bearings. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 140(8).

June, 2018, “Thrust and Guide Bearing Workshop”, Hydrovision 2018, Charlotte, NC.

April, 2018, “Fluid Film Bearings – Fundamentals / Damage / Repair”, International Conference of Doble Clients, Boston, MA.

February, 2018, “Fluid Film Bearings – Alstom Designs – Fundamentals / Damage / Repair”, Alstom Owners Conference, Charlotte, NC.

February, 2018, “Workshop on Radial and Thrust Bearing Analysis”, Auburn, CA.

February, 2018, “Run/Repair Decision, Working Thru the Difficulties- Confronting the Myths”, Day Griffin, 501F Users Group, Orlando, FL.

January 2018, “Making difficult repair versus replacement decisions for fluid film radial and thrust bearings”, Dynegy Vendor Fair, Dallas, TX.

September 2017, “Bearing Rotordynamics- Vibrations and you”, Day Griffin, Vibration Institute Meeting, Concord, NC.

Branagan, M., Morgan, N., Weaver, B. and Wood, H., 2017, June. Response Surface Mapping and Multi-Objective Optimization of Tilting Pad Bearing Designs. In Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea, and Air (Vol. 50923, p. V07AT34A032). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Weaver, B., Tsukuda, T., Rizvi, S.A.A., Schwartz, B., Nichols, B., Griffin, D., Branagan, M., Fittro, R., Lin, Z. and Wood, H., 2017. Experimental Measurements of Turbomachinery Rotordynamics, Component Performance, and Dynamic Control at ROMAC—A Review. J. Gas Turbine Soc. Jpn., 45(4), pp.235-242.

January 2017, “Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) of Journal and Thrust Bearings:  UT / PT of the bond line”, EPRI Turbine Generator Users Group, Memphis, TN.

October 2016, “Effective Rehabilitation of Fluid Film Thrust and Guide Bearings”, NHA Hydraulic Power Fall Retreat, Green Bay, WI.

June 2016 “Fundamentals of a Babbitted Bearing Repair Assistant”, Proceedings of the ASME2016 Power and Energy Conference, PowerEnergy2016-59389, Charlotte, NC.

Branagan, M., Griffin, D., Goyne, C. and Untaroiu, A., 2016. Compliant gas foil bearings and analysis tools. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 138(5).

“Numerical optimization and response surface mapping by experimental design of tilting pad bearings”, M. Branagan, N. Morgan, B. Weaver, A. Untaroiu, H. Wood, Proceedings of 14th EDF/Pprime Workshop, 2015.

April 2015, “Survey of Damage Investigation of Babbitted Industrial Bearings”, Lubricants 2015, 3(2), 91-112. Print.

February, 2014, “Fluid Pivot® Bearings in Brushless Exciters”, Siemens, Orlando, FL.

February, 2014, “Fluid Film Bearings for HydroElectric facilities”, (3) 1-day seminars, Pacific Gas & Electric, Auburn, CA.

December, 2013, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 3-day seminar, Coal Creek Power Plant, Great River Energy, North Dakota.

May, 2013, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 3-day seminar, Krsko Nuclear Power Plant, Slovenia.

June 2012, “Fluid Film Bearings:  Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms and Assessment”, 18-hour seminar, Intermountain Power Plant, Utah.

February 2012, “Assessment of Fluid-Film Bearing Condition”, EPRI Large Electric Motor Users Group, New Orleans, LA.

February 2012, “Fluid Film Bearings:  Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms and Assessment”, 6-hour, Cardinal Power Plant, Cardinal Ontario.

February 2012, “Fluid Film Bearings:  Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms and Assessment”, 6-hour, Ontario Power Generation Lambton Power Plant, Ontario.

January 2012, “Fluid Film Bearings:  Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms and Assessment”, 6-hour, Hoosier Power Merom Station.

January 2012, “Bearing General Repair and Procurement Specifications”, EPRI Turbine Generator Users Group, Phoenix, AZ.

December, 2011, “Manual of Bearing Failures and Repair in Power Plant Rotating Equipment”, Electric Power Research Institute Document #1021780, revised by Lyle Branagan.

October 2011, “Fluid Film Bearing Damage Analysis”, CANDU 2011 Meeting, Toronto Ontario.

September, 2011, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 8-hour seminar, Cardinal Power, Cardinal, Ontario.

September, 2011, “Gas Turbine Radial Bearings”, 2-hour seminar, Combustion Turbine Operator’s Task Force, Scottsdale, AZ.

August, 2011, “Fluid Film Bearings: Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms and Assessment”, 16-hour seminar with Fred Wiesinger for Siemens Engineering/QA group, Siemens, Orlando, FL.

August 2011, “Update on Modern Bearing Babbitts”, Electric Power Research Institute Turbine Generator Users Group, Albany, NY.

July, 2011, “Babbitted Bearing Overview”, 4-hour seminar, Electric Power Research Institute, Predictive Maintenance Users Group meeting, Albequerque, NM.

February, 2011, “Gas Turbine Thrust Bearings”, 2-hour seminar, Combustion Turbine Operations Task Force, West Palm Beach, FL.

February 2011, “Solving Bearing Misalignment Issues”, with STP and Sulzer Pump, EPRI Feed Pump Repair Users Group, San Antonio, TX.

January, 2011, “Guard Your Clearance”, 4-hour seminar, 32nd Energy Generation Conference, Bismarck, ND.

October, 2010, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 8-hour seminar for Siemens/Dominion Energy, Siemens, Richmond, VA.

October, 2010, “Parametric Study of Turbine-Generator Bearing Vibrations:  Challenges to the Evaluation of Field Conditions”, Electric Power Research Institute Report #E-P29777, Final Report, Principal Investigator Lyle Branagan.

July 2010, “Workshop on Hydroelectric Thrust and Guide Bearings”, with Fred Wiesinger, Chuck Wiley, and Chris Ettles, Hydrovision International, Charlotte, NC.

July, 2009, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 2-hour seminar, Electric Power Research Institute, Madrid, Spain.

October, 2008, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 2-hour seminar, Electric Power Research Institute, Major Component Reliability Workshop, Noosa, Queensland, Australia.

July, 2008, “Fluid Film Bearings”, Progress Energy, Kings Mountain, NC.

July, 2007, “Fluid Film Bearings: Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms, and Assessment”, part of Lubrication and Bearings Workshop, Nuclear Power Maintenance Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Charlotte, NC.

May, 2006, “Fluid Film Bearings”, technical part of Annual Meeting of the Charlotte, NC, chapter of the Vibration Institute.

January, 2005, “Journal Bearings: Design, Operations, Failure Modes, and Repair”, part of Turbine Generator Users Group (TGUG) Workshop, Electric Power Research Institute, St. Pete Beach, FL.

November, 2004, “Fluid Film Bearings: Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms, and Assessment”, part of Lubrication and Bearings Workshop, Nuclear Power Maintenance Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute, Charlotte, NC.

September, 2004, “Fluid Film Bearings: Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms, and Assessment”, 12-hour seminar, Beaver Valley Nuclear Station.

August, 2004, “Fluid Film Bearings: Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms, and Assessment”, part of Pump Users Group (PUG) meeting, Nuclear Power Maintenance Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute, Charlotte, NC.

July, 2004, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 8-hour seminar, Surry Nuclear Station.

July, 2004, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 8-hour seminar, Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Station.

March, 2004, “Fluid Film Bearings”, 8-hour seminar with Fred Wiesinger, Point Beach Nuclear Station.

June, 2003, “Fluid Film Bearings: Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms, and Assessment”, part of Lubrication and Bearings Workshop, Nuclear Power Maintenance Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute, Mystic, CT.

January, 2002, “Fluid Film Bearings: Fundamentals, Damage Mechanisms, and Assessment”, part of Lubrication and Bearings Workshop, Nuclear Power Maintenance Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute, Raleigh, NC.

March, 2000, “Damage Evaluation in Babbitted Bearings”, part of Lubrication and Bearings Workshop, Nuclear Power Maintenance Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute, Williamsburg, VA.

Branagan, Lyle A., “Update on Modern Babbitts”, Electric Power Research Institute, Turbine Generator Users Group, August, 2011.

Branagan, Lyle A., “Guard Your Film Clearance”, Doble Revolutionary Machines conference, Hollywood, FL, November 2010.

Branagan, Lyle A., Herran, Greg and Griffin, Day J., “Review of Babbitt (Whitemetal) Analysis Using XRF-Analyzer”, Proceedings of the 9th EDF / Pprime Workshop, Poitiers, France, October 2010.

Branagan, Lyle A. and Herran, G., “Review of Babbitt (Whitemetal) Analysis Using XRF-Analyzer”, Proceedings of the ASME 2010 Power Conference, ASME #POWER2010-27256, Chicago, IL, July, 2010.

Branagan, Lyle A. and Wright, Parker, “Comments on Prediction of Flows and Mixing in Vertical Oil Sumps”, Proceedings of 2010 STLE Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, May, 2010.

Branagan, L. A., and Cleminson, J. C., “Thermal Fatigue of Several Babbitts on Flat Plates: Part II Loaded Expansion”, STLE 62nd Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, May 2007.

Branagan, L. A., and Cleminson, J. C., “Thermal Fatigue of Several Babbitts on Flat Plates: Part I Unloaded Expansion”, Proc. of the IJTC 2006 Conference, IJTC2006-12216, October 2006.

Branagan, L. A., “Toward a Quantitative Analysis of Journal and Bearing Scratches”, Proc. of the 5th EDF & LMS Poitiers Workshop, Futuroscope, October 2006.

Cleminson, J. C. and Branagan, L. A., “Thermal Cycling of White Metal Alloys”, Proc. of the 5th EDF & LMS Poitiers Workshop, Futuroscope, October 2006.

Branagan, L. A., “Damage Analysis of Babbitted Bearings”, Proc. of the Noria Corporation Lubrication Excellence Workshop 2003, November 2003 (similar presentation in 2004).

Bearing Damage Flip Chart, Pioneer Motor Bearing Company, Item #ETS0103, Kings Mountain, NC, 2002 (also, 3rd edition printed 2006/2007).

Branagan, L. A. and Barrett, L. E., “Influence of Cross-Film Viscosity on the Thermal Analysis of Fluid-Film Bearings,” STLE Preprint #98- AM-7A-1, presented at the STLE Annual Meeting in Detroit, May 1998.

Branagan, L. A. and Wasserman, P. D., “Introductory Use of Probabilistic Neural Network for Spike Detection from On-Line Vibration Diagnostic System,” Intelligent Engineering Systems Through Artificial Neural Networks, Vol II, ASME Press, New York, 1992. [2nd Runner-Up, Novel Engineering Applications Award]

Branagan, L. A., “Data Interpolation for Vibration Diagnostics Using Two-Variable Correlations,” ASME PWR-Vol.15, October 1991, pp. 7- 11.

Branagan, L. A., “Vibration of a Utility Generating Unit Under Seismic Loading,” Proceedings of the American Power Conference, April-May 1991, pp. 671-674.

Branagan, L. A., “Challenges to Reporting for On-Line Vibration Monitoring of a Turbine Generator Set,” ASME paper #90-JPGC/Pwr- 29, October 1990.

Branagan, L. A., “Application of an On-Line Vibration Diagnostic Monitoring System to a Utility Turbine Generator Unit,” presented at the EPRI 4th Incipient Failure Detection Conference, Philadelphia, PA, October 1990.

Branagan, L. A., “Data Management for On-Line Vibration Diagnostic Monitoring Systems,” ASME paper #89-JPGC/Pwr-27, October 1989.

Branagan, L. A. and Scheibel, J. R., “Design Considerations for On- Line Vibration Diagnostic Systems,” Proceedings of the 7th Power Plant Dynamics, Control, and Testing Symposium, U.Tenn and IEEE, Knoxville, Tennessee, June 1989.

Branagan, L. A. and Barrett, L. E., “A Manual for Use with the Tilting Pad Bearing Program THPAD”, University of Virginia Report #UVA/643092/MAE88/384, June 1988.

Branagan, L. A. and Barrett, L. E., “A Manual for Use with the Multilobe Bearing Program THBRG”, University of Virginia Report #UVA/643092/MAE88/373, February 1988.

Branagan, L. A., “Approximate Analysis of Bearings in Flexible Supports with Examples,” presented at the ROMAC Short Course on Vibrations in Pumps and Hydraulic Turbines, Charlottesville, Virginia, July 1985.

Branagan, L. A., “Vibration Testing on A 3-Megawatt Cogeneration Unit Turbo-generator,” presented at the ROMAC Short Course on Vibrations in Compressors, Fans, and Turbines, Charlottesville, Virginia, August 1984.

Branagan, L. A., “Vibration Problems in Vertical Pumps,” presented at the EPRI/ROMAC Pump Workshop, Toronto, Ontario, August 1982.

Allaire, P. E., Branagan, L. A., and Kocur, J. A., “Aerodynamic Stiffness of an Unbounded Eccentric Whirling Centrifugal Impeller with an Infinite Number of Blades,” University of Virginia Report #UVA/643092/MAE82/198, June 1982.

Vigour, J., Sato, C., and Branagan, L., “Mesh Generation for Two Dimensional Impellers,” University of Virginia Report #UVA/643092/MAE82/197, June 1982.

Branagan, L. A. and Gunter, E. J., “Users Manual for Rotor Stability Program MODSTB,” University of Virginia Report #UVA/643092/MAE84/280, June 1981.

Branagan, L. A., Kirkpatrick, W. M., and Gunter, E. J., “Stability Analysis of the Oxygen Pump for the Space Shuttle Main Engine,” University of Virginia Report #UVA/528140/MAE80/118, October 1980.

Numerous Pioneer Motor Bearing Company, Lockheed-Martin and Pacific Gas & Electric internal reports, and non-peer reviewed papers for the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) not listed.

Lyle Branagan is a member of the EPRI Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for:

  • Reactor Coolant Pump and Reactor Recirculation Pump Lubrication Systems (2006)
  • Smart Component – Motors and Pumps (2007)
  • Real Time Component Operating Health (RTCOH) – Motors and Pumps (2010-2012)

Special Relationships and License Agreements

1964-1992: Alliance with the Glacier Metal Company, Ltd.

In 1964, Pioneer, as an independent company, became allied with the Glacier Metal Company Ltd. of the UK. At that time Glacier was Europe’s largest plain bearing manufacturer with a world-renowned staff of bearing research engineers, five plants in England and Scotland and 4,500 employees. During the first ten years of our relationship, Glacier owned more than 50% of all the patents in the world that had been issued pertaining to plain bearing materials. With Glacier as our mentor, Pioneer moved up to the next level of knowledge and expertise in our industry in the U.S. 

The scope of our alliance included all non-automotive Glacier bearings: industrial general products; Rotating Plant Bearings (tilt pad radial and thrust bearings); diesel engine bearings; marine propulsion bearings; and even bridge bearings. Our solid relationship continued into the 1990s by which time Glacier began to operate on a separate division basis and sold off segments of its business to American, Japanese and South African interests among others. This special relationship literally began on a handshake and lasted almost 30 years until Glacier’s demise.

Pioneer’s relationship with Glacier, apart from providing Pioneer with a world-class mentor in the bearing business, created increased value to customers.

B/W image of Pioneer work with Glacier manufacturing solar turbins in factory, san diego

Working with Glacier

The combination of Glacier’s wide spectrum of materials and Glacier and Pioneer’s manufacturing resources enabled the Glacier-Pioneer alliance to bring added value to Solar Turbines in San Diego, California.

From copper-lead, “tri-metal” mechanically pivoted tilting pad journal bearings manufactured in Glacier plants in the UK, to babbitted Fluid Pivot® and other journal bearings and seals produced by Pioneer, the alliance offered Solar “one-stop shopping” for all its bearing needs.

In addition, Pioneer’s proximity to Solar Turbines and its repair and service experience, provided excellent support for Glacier products.

1989: Exclusive Supply Agreement with Westinghouse Electric Corp.

In March, 1989, Pioneer became the exclusive supplier to the Power Generation Business Unit (PGBU) of Westinghouse Electric to manufacture and deliver 100% of the OEM’s requirements for new babbitt radial and thrust bearings designed by Westinghouse for all new large turbines and generators for land-based power generation and for existing machines as replacement parts. The duration of the agreement was for five years during which Westinghouse transferred the bulk of its operations from Pennsylvania to the Southeast.

babbitt bearing work in factory B/W image
westinghouse siemens energy logo

1989: Exclusive License of IP Granted by Westinghouse for Service and Support

Coincident to the Exclusive Supply Agreement, in 1989 Pioneer entered into an exclusive license agreement with Westinghouse’s PGBU that gave Pioneer the right to possess and use all Westinghouse intellectual property (IP) related to radial and thrust bearings designed by Westinghouse for power generation for the purpose of repair and service to be performed directly by Pioneer for end-users in the electric utility market. The duration of the license was 5 years. In 1994, it was expanded to include repair services for Westinghouse bearings located anywhere in the world, and was put on an “evergreen” basis.  The license survives to this day, with Siemens Energy as the successor-in-interest and now includes IP covering the bearings in Siemens’ steam and combustion power turbines and generators.

With this license, Pioneer became the first-ever North American bearing company independent of an OEM to be granted a license by an OEM in the power generation industry to use all its bearing intellectual property (drawings, specifications, etc.) to market and perform repair services directly to end-users.

1993: Exclusive License Granted by ABB for Service and Support

In 1990, Pioneer began supplying new Alstom-designed steam and gas turbine bearings to Alstom Power Service (Midlothian, Virginia, U.S.), often on short lead times to meet requirements of power plant outage schedules. Having earned ABB’s trust and confidence, in 1993 ABB followed the Westinghouse example and entered into an exclusive license agreement with Pioneer that gave Pioneer rights to ABB bearing IP that essentially were similar to those granted by Westinghouse. The license pertained to bearings in ABB large utility steam turbines and generators operating in the U.S. It included the IP of Brown-Boveri, Inc. (BBI).

ABB logo
Alstom logo

2000: Alstom Acquires ABB Power Turbine Business and Adopts & Expands License

After a 16-month attempt to collaborate in a joint venture (ABB ALSTOM POWER), Alstom Power acquired ABB’s 50% share and became the owner of all of ABB’s power generation technology. After close examination, Alstom approved of, expanded and adopted as its own the ABB License, thus appointing Pioneer as its exclusive licensee of intellectual property related to ABB, BBI and Alstom power turbines and generators to render rapid-response repair services to end-users with the advantage of OEM drawings and specifications. At the same time, Pioneer became a key supplier of new steam and gas turbine bearings to Alstom.

2005-2017: Alliance with Rolls-Royce Power Engineering

In 1998, Michell Bearings, at that time a subsidiary of Vickers Limited,  approached Pioneer seeking discussions to acquire the company. Though having no interest in selling the firm, Pioneer proposed a collaboration with Michell, a globally renowned and respected fluid film bearing engineering and manufacturing business. During more than five years of Pioneer and Michell becoming well acquainted and collaborating on an informal basis, the Rolls-Royce Group acquired Michell by virtue of its acquisition of Vickers’s marine business.   

By 2004, all business plans for a formal alliance had been worked out and approved by Rolls-Royce. The formal contracts constituting the alliance between Rolls-Royce Power Engineering and Pioneer were signed in February, 2005. Pursuant to the agreements, Michell granted an exclusive license to Pioneer to have and use Michell intellectual property (IP) for the purpose of providing end-users with authorized and competent repair and service of Michell babbitt (whitemetal) bearings, and an exclusive license to use Michell IP (know-how and work methods) to manufacture and repair new polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) faced thrust bearings for the U.S. market and to provide PTFE bearing repair services to Canadian end-users. The two companies also entered into a Teaming Agreement with respect to service and repairs to be rendered to Rolls Royce Naval Marine, Inc. (Walpole, Massachusetts). Pioneer granted Michell Bearings a  license to manufacture and sell Pioneer’s Fluid Pivot® tilting pad radial bearings.

Twelve years later, in November, 2015, British Engines Ltd, acquired Michell. The Michell-Pioneer alliance was narrowed down to service and support for Michell industrial and naval products in the U.S. as Michell established its own sales presence for Michell in the U.S. Thereafter, in June, 2022, with Michell having established an office in the U.S. as part of an expansion strategy, Pioneer and Michell agreed to terminate the remainder of the alliance as a result of the change of ownership and strategy of Michell Bearings.

Rolls-Royce logo, Michell Bearings logo
General Electric logo

2017: General Electric Acquires Alstom Power and Maintains the Pioneer License  

In late 2017, as part of its acquisition of Alstom Power, GE endorsed the Alstom Power license granted to Pioneer and sought to maintain its existence. Thus, Pioneer became the exclusive licensee of General Electric Technologies GmbH (Switzerland) with respect to ABB, Alstom and BBI IP, as GE succeeded Alstom as the successor-of-interest to the agreement. 

2017: Zollern Appoints Pioneer its Exclusive Licensee in North America for Technical Support

After becoming acquainted over a long period of time since December 2009, and then working together informally to serve aftermarket requirements of Zollern customers, in 2017 the Zollern Group’s Plain Bearing Technology division entered into an exclusive technology license agreement with Pioneer to strengthen its after-sale customer support. The agreement empowered Pioneer to use Zollern IP and proprietary information to provide a range of technical support services to end-users of Zollern hydrodynamic plain bearings in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Zollern’s Plain Bearing Technology division operated four bearing manufacturing plants in Germany, France and Brazil. 

The alliance with Zollern assured Zollern OEM and end-user customers in North America of regional product support and a degree of stand-by emergency U.S manufacturing capability. In addition, Pioneer provided some engineering services (rotordynamics and bearing designs) to Zollern’s operation in Brazil.

On April 1, 2020, Pioneer terminated the alliance with Zollern on the basis of a change of ownership or control arising from the joint venture The Zollern Group entered into with MIBA (Austria), subsidiaries of which in the U.S. are competitors of Pioneer’s.

Zollern logo
Yamato logo

Pioneer – Yamato Collaboration

Yamato Metal (Kashiwa, Japan) traces its roots back to 1900, when it initially focused on special metal alloys, which grew to today’s impressive spectrum of products, such as those with high strength and resistance to corrosion, and others with low-melting point alloys (with dissolution temperatures from 50° up to 200°C). From this solid background in metallurgy and smelting, Yamato developed its tin-based, non-ferrous alloys used for plain bearings in industrial machinery. This became Yamato’s path to and long history of manufacturing high-quality bearings with consistent in-house production systems. The company is particularly proficient at handling many different types and styles of bearings in small lots, including high-precision tilting pad bearings which require technical expertise.

In 2014, Yamato Metal approached Pioneer to assist in its effort to develop the babbitt bearing aftermarket in Japan as well as to provide engineering support to Yamato and custom-engineered solutions to their customer base including in larger sizes easily accommodated by Pioneer.

After several years of becoming acquainted with each other’s facilities and capabilitiesas well as making visits to Japanese power plants and understanding their historic reliance on OEMs that steer customers to replace rather than repair worn or damaged bearings, Pioneer and Yamato agreed to collaborate as alliance partners. The structure of our collaboration is rooted in the deep trust and respect we hold for each other and allows the partnership to be as flexible as possible to serve our Japanese customers.

Though Pioneer has a long history of serving Japanese companies in the U.S., such as Mitsubishi’s gas turbine’s business and Toshiba’s hydroelectric operations, Yamato was instrumental in arranging the first visit to Pioneer’s facility in North Carolina by a team of engineers from a global Japanese industrial OEM seeking technical assistance.

Yamato also gained the respect and trust of a major Japanese end-user that led to the customer’s experiment conducted by Pioneer in North Carolina to determine if one of its worn or damaged bearings from a GE 7F gas turbine to be repaired by Pioneer could equal the quality of a new identical OEM part.

Pioneer performed its standard complete bearing repair regimen, including recasting. Pioneer went head-to-head with the new OEM bearing in a multitude of non-destructive and destructive tests, including a Chalmer’s test, and post-destructive microscopic investigations. In a sweeping report produced and financed by the Japanese end-user, Pioneer’s aftermarket repairs resulted in the repaired bearing showing better results in some critical criteria. And based on objective findings, the evidence demonstrated that the overall quality of the repaired bearing exceeded that of the OEM new part. To quote the report:

“The manufacturer’s product [OEM] tended to partially peel off at the interface between the white metal and the steel material, but with the repaired product, no peeling was observed at the interface, and no problem in use was confirmed.

Even if the influence of interfacial peeling is excluded, the strength of the repaired product is greater than that of the manufacturer’s product.”

Our goal is to enlighten end-users on the benefits of after-market bearing repairs such as faster turnaround times, more competitive prices, and even an equal or superior product.

If you are in Japan and interested in after-market bearing repair services or need a custom-engineered solution for a new product or a problematic existing, please contact our friends at Yamato Metal or us at Pioneer directly.

Team shot of Pioneer and Yamato Metal in Japan

View License Agreements

Siemens Energy (Formerly Westinghouse)

Download Press Release

Alstom (Formerly ABB)

Download Press Release

Alstom (Formerly ABB)

Download Service Information Letter

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