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Bearing Removal on NASA's Crawler-Transporter

Customer

L&H Industrial

Location

Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

Challenge

Built in 1965, NASA’s crawler-transporters have carried rockets and spacecraft to the Kennedy Space Center launch pad for more than 40 years. The crawler-transporters will continue to be critical elements for future launch operations; however modifications are required in order to transport a rocket and launch tower combination heavier than the Saturn V moon rockets the crawlers were designed for. Replacing the existing bearings with redesigned traction roller assemblies (TRA) will enable the CT2 to carry the greater loads anticipated with the Space Launch System (SLS). Installing the redesigned traction roller assemblies in the crawler tracks required a significant amount of force in order to remove and install the new the bearings.

Solution

L&H needed two hydraulic cylinders to apply simultaneous force to both ends of the shaft adapter in order to remove and install the new TRAs. Enerpac designed and manufactured a custom RR hydraulic cylinder which provided the appropriate amount of force and fit the tight dimensional specifications. ZU hydraulic pumps underwent major usage and performed very well in this demanding duty cycle application.

Products

RR Cilindri, ZU Pompe