June 21, 2006 — The Timken Co. recently helped Gallatin Steel avoid costly downtime in its rolling mill operations with an emergency bearing repair and installation of a Timken predictive maintenance program.

Gallatin Steel employees had heard an unusual noise coming from a shaft on a rolling mill stand. With assistance from an on-site Timken representative, the noise was identified as a broken bearing cage, which was a result of high-speed and impact force on a two-row tapered bearing.

In order to get the mill stand back into production as quickly as possible, the bearing, which had been in service since the plant opened 11 years ago, was removed and inspected, the cage was welded in the six places where it had fractured and the gearbox was re-assembled. Timken also corrected the bearing clearance and made several other modifications to minimize any wear patterns that could occur after the assembly was mounted back in place. Since the reinstallation in March, the bearing — with its repaired cage — has operated on the input pinion shaft with no problems.

In order to help Gallatin avoid future emergency repairs, Timken installed a StatusCheck^(TM) condition monitoring device on the bearing to measure overall vibration. StatusCheck, a wireless system designed to detect and monitor excessive levels of vibration and temperature, now alerts Gallatin's pulpit operator to vibration changes in the bearing, which could indicate potential bearing problems in the mill stand. Results can be evaluated with Timken's on-site technical team and further diagnostic testing may be required to understand the severity of the situation.

"Timken is an integral part of our overall preventive and predictive maintenance programs and has played a very valuable role in helping us identify potential problems before they actually became problems," said Don Daily, President of Gallatin Steel. "I can't say enough good things about the work Timken has done for Gallatin Steel, and I look forward to a long association with them."

"Our work with Gallatin Steel is representative of the friction management expertise Timken provides to steel producers around the world," said Michael J. Connors, vice president of Timken's Industrial Equipment business. "In this emergency application, our team's ability to combine on-site technical support with innovative condition monitoring products and services underscores our fundamental commitment to helping improve our customers' performance, no matter the circumstances."

Gallatin Steel is a flat-rolled carbon steel producer based in Ghent, Ky.