Types Of Bearings

What are the different types of bearings? Bearings are elements in a machine that allows them to move. They can be of linear movement or circular. Most people use bearings in order to allow one to control the movement of a certain machine. This is why there are many different types of bearing being used. Given that they are quite useful and versatile, more and more people use these nowadays.

The ball bearings are the types of bearings that are used to manage small amounts of loads. They are mostly used in thrust and radial elements such as roller blades or bicycles. Keep in mind that the ball bearings are just to handle small weights therefore they cannot be used in heavy machinery and such.

Roller bearings, on the other hand, are the types of bearings that are specifically designed to bring heavy loads. They are usually comprised of two parts, a cylinder and the bearing itself. It works by placing the round elements between the two bearing rings. The cylinder part allows the loads weight to be distributed evenly throughout the bearing, allowing it to be moved without resistance.

Ball thrust bearings are the types of bearings that are used mostly for thrust machinery. It allows rotation between the different parts, therefore are able to support only light to medium loads. Specifically, ball thrust bearings are used in low speed and low weight applications. A good example of thrust bearings at work are bar stools as they are what support the seat.

Roller thrust bearings are those bearings that specifically handle thrust loads. Among all the types of bearings, they are the ones that can support the biggest amounts of loads. This is why the roller thrust bearings are usually found being used in gear support in car transmissions. There are three more subtypes of these bearings. They are cylindrical roller thrust bearings, tapered roller thrust bearings, and spherical thrust bearings. The main difference of each would be their shape.

Tapered Roller Bearings are bearings that are specially designed to handle the biggest loads. These bearings are consisted of tapered rollers that converge at a certain point of the bearing. This allows the whole mechanism to carry the huge loads. Hence, the tapered roller bearings are the types of bearings that are used in many automotive applications.

Fluid bearings are the most unusual of the types of bearings. The load support of this type lies on either liquid or gas. The main use of fluid bearings are in high speed, high load applications such as air hockey machines and ice skates.

Lastly, we have magnetic bearing. These are the types of bearings that supports via magnetic levitation. The fantastic thing about these types of bearings is that they do not require physical contact in order to do the job. It just simply relies on the magnets to levitate the shaft without any friction, which ends up in no mechanical wear to the machinery. Because of these characteristics, the magnetic bearings are mostly used in pumps, generators, turbines, and motors.