Problems Faced
Customers often come to us because their traditional spherical bearing arrangements have failed.
Traditional spherical bearings struggle to cope with the harsh nature of the environment. If not serviced and maintained properly, they can be subject to exacerbate fretting and bimetallic corrosion.
One of the many issues with traditional spherical arrangements on heave compensators is that they can be very difficult to reach for standard servicing and greasing.
In these situations our composite bearings can solve their problems.
Tufcot’s Solution
In heave compensator applications, the load bearing capabilities of a complete composite arrangement won’t sustain the requirements of offshore applications.
Through years of experience in various industries, our technical team came up with a solution.
The idea used to solve this issue brings together the best of both worlds. The load carrying capabilities of stainless steel, coupled with Tufcot’s self-lubricating, no maintenance material.
To manufacture this no maintenance solution, we designed an arrangement that would use a stainless-steel ball with a composite bush pressed into the ID, coupled with a composite housing.
This solution not only provides the best load carrying capabilities we have to offer, that will never need maintaining or greasing, it will also prevent fretting or bimetallic corrosion.

Conclusion
Over the years Tufcot has provided many customers with our composite spherical bearings and housings to much success.
Our customers can be assured that our spherical bearings are long-lasting and provide the perfect no maintenance solution for those tough to reach spots!
Their ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions makes them ideal for the marine sector and, in particular, for heave compensator applications.
If you have any questions or would like to know if Tufcot can assist you with upcoming projects, contact our experienced team on:
Phone: +44 (0)114 244 2363
Email: info@tufcot.com
