At the 47th International Paris Air Show, Le Bourget 2007, SKF Aerospace presented a recently developed adjustable design for high-volume small- to medium-size composite rods. Meeting the same stringent design and manufacturing requirements as its heavy load and torque composite rods currently used for flight control and structural applications, it provides a new and innovative solution for sub-tier applications such as door mechanisms, AC systems, stowage bins, electronic racks, ceiling panel attachments and many similar aerospace applications.

These rods will provide SKF’s customers with a customized solution as well as substantial weight savings compared with the more traditional metallic rod or bonded composite rod insert technology.

Another novelty presented was SKF’s all-titanium technologies in its metal-to-metal and self-lubricating spherical plain bearing families.

Recently developed products now combine SKF’s experience in self-lubricating technologies with titan-ium to answer the demanding requirements of the aeronautical industry for weight-reduced and maintenance-free parts. The avail-ability of both swaged and split ball self-lubricating lightweight spherical plain bearings will offer the oppor-tunity to design customer-focused solutions for a wide range of plain bearing applications where weight is a critical factor.

This new generation of full titan-ium plain bearings already exceeds the high performance levels of the previous bronze/titanium bearings while offering the potential of huge weight savings.