Thrust bearing

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A self-aligning roller thrust bearing

A thrust ball bearing

A fluid film thrust bearing A thrust bearing is a particular type of rotary bearing. Like other bearings they permit rotation between parts, but they are designed to support a high axial load while doing this. Thrust bearings come in several varieties.

Ball thrust bearings, composed of ball bearings supported in a ring, can be used in low thrust applications where there is little radial load. Roller thrust bearings consist of small cylindrical rollers arranged flat with their axes pointing to the axis of the bearing. They give very good carrying capacity and are cheap, but tend to wear due to the differences in radial speed and friction is higher than with ball bearings. Tapered roller bearings consist of small tapered rollers arranged so that their axes all converge at a point on the axis of the bearing. The length of the roller and the diameter of the wide and the narrow ends and the angle of rollers need to be carefully calculated to provide the correct taper so that each end of the roller rolls smoothly on the bearing face without skidding. These are the type most commonly used in automotive applications (to support the wheels of a motor car for example), where they are used in pairs to accommodate axial thrust in either direction, as well as radial loads. They can support rather larger thrust loads than the ball type due to the larger contact area, but are more expensive to manufacture. Fluid bearings, where the axial thrust is supported on a thin layer of pressurized liquidthese give low drag. Magnetic bearings, where the axial thrust is supported on a magnetic field. This is used where very high speeds or very low drag is needed, for example the Zippetype centrifuge.

They are commonly used in automotive, marine, and aerospace applications. Thrust bearings are used in cars because the forward gears in modern car gearboxes use helical gears which, while aiding in smoothness and noise reduction, cause axial forces that need to be dealt with. The double helical or herringbone gear balances the thrust caused by normal helical gears. One specific thrust bearing in an automobile is the clutch "throw out" bearing, sometimes called the clutch release bearing. Fluid-film thrust bearings were invented by Australian engineer George Michell (pronounced Mitchell) who patented his invention in 1905. Michell bearings contain a number of sector-shaped pads, arranged in a circle around the shaft, and which are free to pivot. These create wedge-shaped regions of oil inside the bearing between the pads and a rotating disk, which support the applied thrust and eliminate metal-on-metal contact. Michell's invention was notably applied to the thrust block in ships. The small size (onetenth the size of old bearing designs), low friction and long life of Michell's invention made possible the development of more powerful engines and propellers. They were used extensively in ships built during World War I, and have become the standard bearing used on turbine shafts in ships and power plants worldwide.

[edit] Thrust ball bearing

Thrust ball bearings consist of two precision chrome steel washers (ring) and a ball complement spaced by bronze retainer. They can be supplied with or without radius ball grooves in the rings. Thrust bearings are used under purely axial loads.

General Types of Bearings and How They Work

enhances speed and efficiency. How Bearings Work

In order to serve all these functions, bearings make use of a relatively simple structure: a ball with internal and external smooth metal surfaces, to aid in rolling. The ball itself carries the weight of the loadthe force of the loads weight is what drives the bearings rotation. However, not all loads put force on a bearing in the same manner. There are two different kinds of loading: radial and thrust. A radial load, as in a pulley, simply puts weight on the bearing in a manner that causes the bearing to roll or rotate as a result of tension. A thrust load is significantly different, and puts stress on the bearing in an entirely different way. If a bearing (think of a tire) is flipped on its side (think now of a tire swing) and subject to complete force at that angle (think of three children sitting on the tire swing), this is called thrust load. A bearing that is used to support a bar stool is an example of a bearing that is subject only to thrust load. Many bearings are prone to experiencing both radial and thrust loads. Car tires, for example, carry a radial load when driving in a straight line: the

tires roll forward in a rotational manner as a result of tension and the weight they are supporting. However, when a car goes around a corner, it is subject to thrust load because the tires are no longer moving solely in a radial fashion and cornering force weighs on the side of the bearing. Types of Bearings There are numerous different kinds of bearings that are designed to handle radial load, thrust load, or some combination of the two. Because different applications require bearings that are designed to handle a specific kind of load and different amounts of weight, the differences between types of bearings concern load type and ability to handle weight.

Ball Bearings

Ball bearings are extremely common because they can handle both radial and thrust loads, but can only handle a small amount of weight. They are found in a wide array of applications, such as roller blades and even hard drives, but are prone to deforming if they are overloaded.

Roller Bearings

Roller bearings are designed to carry heavy loadsthe primary roller is a cylinder, which means the load is distributed over a larger area, enabling the bearing to handle larger amounts of weight. This structure, however, means the bearing can handle primarily radial loads, but is not suited to thrust loads. For applications where space is an issue, a needle bearing can be used. Needle bearings work with small diameter cylinders, so they are easier to fit in smaller applications.

Ball Thrust Bearings

These kinds of bearings are designed to handle almost exclusively thrust loads in low-speed low-weight applications. Bar stools, for example, make use of ball thrust bearings to support the seat.

Roller Thrust Bearings

Roller thrust bearings, much like ball thrust bearings, handle thrust loads. The difference, however, lies in the amount of weight the bearing can handle: roller thrust bearings can support significantly larger amounts of thrust load, and are therefore found in car transmissions, where they are used to support helical gears. Gear support in general is a common application for roller thrust bearings.

Tapered Roller Bearings

This style of bearing is designed to handle large radial and thrust loads as a result of their load versatility, they are found in car hubs due to the extreme amount of both radial and thrust loads that car wheels are expected to carry.

Specialized Bearings

There are, of course, several kinds of bearings that are manufactured for specific applications, such as magnetic bearings and giant roller bearings. Magnetic bearings are found in high-speed devices because it has no moving partsthis stability enables it to support devices that move unconscionably fast. Giant roller bearings are used to move extremely large and heavy loads, such as buildings and large structural components.

Different Bearing types There are many types of bearings, each used for different purposes either singularly or in combinations. These include ball bearings, roller bearings, ball thrust bearings, roller thrust bearings and tapered roller thrust bearings.

Ball bearings

Ball bearings, as shown to the left, are the most common type by far. They are found in everything from skate boards to washing machines to PC hard drives. These bearings are capable of taking both radial and thrust loads, and are usually found in applications where the load is light to medium and is constant in nature (ie not shock loading). The bearing shown here has the outer ring cut away revealing the balls and ball retainer. Roller bearings

Roller bearings like the one shown to the left are normally used in heavy duty applications such as conveyer belt rollers, where they must hold heavy radial loads. In these bearings the roller is a cylinder, so the contact between the inner and outer race is not a point (like the ball bearing above) but a line. This spreads the load out over a larger area, allowing the roller bearing to handle much greater loads than a ball bearing. However, this type of bearing cannot handle thrust loads to any significant degree. A variation of this bearing design is called the needle bearing. The needle roller bearing uses cylindrical rollers like those above but with a very small diameter. This allows the bearing to fit into tight places such as gear boxes that rotate at higher speeds.

Thrust ball bearings

Ball thrust bearings like the one shown to the left are mostly used for lowspeed non precision applications. They cannot take much radial load and are usually found in lazy susan turntables and low precision farm equipment. Roller thrust bearing

Roller thrust bearings like the one illustrated to the left can support very large thrust loads. They are often found in gearsets like car transmissions between gear sprockets, and between the housing and the rotating shafts. The helical gears used in most transmissions have angled teeth, this can causes a high thrust load that must be supported by this type of bearing. Taper roller bearing

Tapered roller bearings are designed to support large radial and large thrust loads. These loads can take the form of constant loads or shock loads. Tapered roller bearings are used in many car hubs, where they are usually mounted in pairs facing opposite directions. This gives them the ability to take thrust loads in both directions. The cutaway taper roller on the left shows the specially designed tapered rollers and demonstrates their angular mounting which gives their dual load ability.

Other bearing types.. The above bearing types are some of the most common. There are thousands of other designs, some standard and some specific applications but all perform the same basic function. Essentially further types of bearings usually take all or some of the characteristics of the above bearings and blend them into one design. Through the use of careful material selection and applying the correct degree of machining precision, a successful bearing solution can usually be found.