Bearings are highly engineered, precision-made components that enable machinery to move at extremely high speeds and carry remarkable loads with ease and efficiency.
Bearings must be able to offer high precision, reliability and durability, as well as the ability to rotate at high speeds with minimal noise and vibration.
Bearings are found in applications ranging from automobiles, airplanes, computers, construction equipment, machine tools, DVD players, refrigerators and ceiling fans.
If something twists, turns or moves, it probably has a bearing in it.
Bearing Types and Application
There are many distinct bearing types, each with particular characteristics which are suited to specific applications. Here are the four most common types of bearings:
A bearing where the rolling function is provided by a ball or sphere. Ball bearings facilitate:
- Low friction
- High speed
- Light-to-medium loading
Ball bearings are commonly found in fans, roller blades, wheel bearings, under-hood applications on cars, and other light and general machine applications.
Cylindrical & Needle Roller Bearings:
A bearing where the rolling function is provided by a cylinder. May also be referred to as needle roller bearings (where length is much greater than diameter). Cylindrical roller bearings facilitate:
- Low friction
- Medium-to-heavy radial loading
Cylindrical roller bearings are commonly used in general machine applications including gearboxes, transmissions, machine tools and construction equipment.
A bearing where the rolling function is provided by a tapered cylinder. Tapered roller bearings facilitate:
- Low friction
- Axial and radial loading
Commonly found in heavy industrial, truck and wheel applications with combined radial and axial loads. Some examples are manual transmissions, gearboxes, power generation and other process equipment.
A bearing where the rolling function is provided by a barrel-shaped roller. Spherical roller bearings facilitate:
- Medium friction
- Medium-to-heavy loads
- Misalignment capabilities
Commonly found in gearboxes, conveyors, pulp and paper machines and other process equipment, these bearings are generally used for very high load applications with misaligned shafts to housings.