Generally speaking, a bearing is a device that is used to enable rotational or

linear movement, while reducing friction and handling stress. Resembling

wheels, bearings literally enable devices to roll, which reduces the friction
between the surface of the bearing and the surface it’s rolling over. It’s
significantly easier to move, both in a rotary or linear fashion, when friction
is reduced—this also 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 load—the force of the
load’s weight is what drives the bearing’s 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.

1.
2. 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.

1. Roller Bearings
Roller bearings are designed to carry heavy loads—the 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. 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 parts—this 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

Types of Bearings
There are many types of bearings, each used for different purposes. These
include ball bearings, roller bearings, ball thrust bearings, roller thrust bearings
and tapered roller thrust bearings.

Ball Bearings
Ball bearings, as shown below, are probably the most common type of bearing. They are
found in everything from inline skates to hard drives. These bearings can handle both radial
and thrust loads, and are usually found in applications where the load is relatively small.
 Photo courtesy The Timken Company
Cutaway view of a ball bearing

In a ball bearing, the load is transmitted from the outer race to the ball, and from the ball to
the inner race. Since the ball is a sphere, it only contacts the inner and outer race at a very
small point, which helps it spin very smoothly. But it also means that there is not very much
contact area holding that load, so if the bearing is overloaded, the balls can deform or squish,
ruining the bearing.

Roller Bearings
Roller bearings like the one illustrated below are used in applications like 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 but a line. This spreads the load out
over a larger area, allowing the bearing to handle much greater loads than a ball bearing.
However, this type of bearing is not designed to handle much thrust loading.
A variation of this type of bearing, called a needle bearing, uses cylinders with a very small
diameter. This allows the bearing to fit into tight places.
 Photo courtesy The Timken Company
Cutaway view of a roller bearing

Ball Thrust Bearing

Ball thrust bearings like the one shown below are mostly used for low-speed applications
and cannot handle much radial load. Barstools and Lazy Susan turntables use this type of
bearing.

Photo courtesy The Timken Company

Ball thrust bearing

Roller Thrust Bearing

Roller thrust bearings like the one illustrated below can support large thrust loads. They are
often found in gearsets like car transmissions between gears, and between the housing and the
rotating shafts. The helical gears used in most transmissions have angled teeth -- this causes a
thrust load that must be supported by a bearing.

Photo courtesy The Timken Company

Roller thrust bearing
Tapered Roller Bearings
Tapered roller bearings can support large radial and large thrust loads.

Photo courtesy The Timken Company

Cutaway view of (left) a spherical roller thrust
bearing and (right) a radial tapered roller bearing

Tapered roller bearings are used in car hubs, where they are usually mounted in pairs facing
opposite directions so that they can handle thrust in both directions.

Some Interesting Uses

There are several types of bearings, and each has its own interesting uses,
including magnetic bearings and giant roller bearings.

Magnetic Bearings
Some very high-speed devices, like advanced flywheel energy storage systems, use magnet
bearings. These bearings allow the flywheel to float on a magnetic field created by the
bearing.
Some of the flywheels run at speeds in excess of 50,000 revolutions per minute (rpm).
Normal bearings with rollers or balls would melt down or explode at these speeds. The
magnetic bearing has no moving parts, so it can handle these incredible speeds.
Giant Roller Bearings
Probably the first use of a bearing was back when the Egyptians were building the pyramids.
They put round logs under the heavy stones so that they could roll them to the building site.
This method is still used today when large, very heavy objects like the Cape Hatteras
lighthouse need to be moved.
Earthquake-Proof Buildings
The new San Francisco International Airport uses many advanced building technologies to
help it withstand earthquakes. One of these technologies involves giant ball bearings.

Click on "Earthquake!"
to see the earthquake bearing support system at work.

The 267 columns that support the weight of the airport each ride on a 5-foot-diameter (1.5-
meter) steel ball bearing. The ball rests in a concave base that is connected to the ground. In
the event of an earthquake, the ground can move 20 inches (51 cm) in any direction. The
columns that rest on the balls move somewhat less than this as they roll around in their bases,
which helps isolate the building from the motion of the ground. When the earthquake is over,
gravity pulls the columns back to the center of their bases.
Motions

Common motions permitted by bearings are:

• Axial rotation e.g. shaft rotation
• Linear motion e.g. drawer
• spherical rotation e.g. ball and socket joint
• hinge motion e.g. door, elbow, knee
Friction

Reducing friction in bearings is often important for efficiency, to reduce wear and to facilitate
extended use at high speeds and to avoid overheating and premature failure of the bearing.
Essentially, a bearing can reduce friction by virtue of its shape, by its material, or by
introducing and containing a fluid between surfaces or by separating the surfaces with an
electromagnetic field.
• By shape, gains advantage usually by using spheres or rollers, or by
forming flexure bearings.
• By material, exploits the nature of the bearing material used. (An
example would be using plastics that have low surface friction.)
• By fluid, exploits the low viscosity of a layer of fluid, such as a lubricant
or as a pressurized medium to keep the two solid parts from touching, or
by reducing the normal force between them.
• By fields, exploits electromagnetic fields, such as magnetic fields, to keep
solid parts from touching.
Combinations of these can even be employed within the same bearing. An example of this is
where the cage is made of plastic, and it separates the rollers/balls, which reduce friction by
their shape and finish.
Loads

Bearings vary greatly over the size and directions of forces that they can support.
Forces can be predominately radial, axial (thrust bearings) or Bending moments
perpendicular to the main axis
Speeds
Different bearing types have different operating speed limits. Speed is typically specified as
maximum relative surface speeds, often specified ft/s or m/s. Rotational bearings typically
describe performance in terms of the product DN where D is the diameter (often in mm) of
the bearing and N is the rotation rate in revolutions per minute.
Generally there is considerable speed range overlap between bearing types. Plain bearings
typically handle only lower speeds, rolling element bearings are faster, followed by fluid
bearings and finally magnetic bearings which are limited ultimately by centripetal force
overcoming material strength

Stiffness
A second source of motion is elasticity in the bearing itself. For example, the balls in a ball
bearing are like stiff rubber, and under load deform from round to a slightly flattened shape.
The race is also elastic and develops a slight dent where the ball presses on it.
The stiffness of a bearing is how the distance between the parts which are separated by the
bearing varies with applied load. With rolling element bearings this is due to the strain of the
ball and race. With fluid bearings it is due to how the pressure of the fluid varies with the gap
(when correctly loaded, fluid bearings are typically stiffer than rolling element bearings).

Service Life
Fluid and magnetic bearings can have practically indefinite service lives. In practice, there
are fluid bearings supporting high loads in hydroelectric plants that have been in nearly
continuous service since about 1900 and which show no signs of wear.
Rolling element bearing life is determined by load, temperature, maintenance, lubrication,
material defects, contamination, handling, installation and other factors. These factors can all
have a significant effect on bearing life. For example, the service life of bearings in one
application was extended dramatically by changing how the bearings were stored before
installation and use, as vibrations during storage caused lubricant failure even when the only
load on the bearing was its own weight;[1] the resulting damage is often false brinelling.
Bearing life is statistical: several samples of a given bearing will often exhibit a bell curve of
service life, with a few samples showing significantly better or worse life. Bearing life varies
because microscopic structure and contamination vary greatly even where macroscopically
they seem identical.
For plain bearings some materials give much longer life than others. Some of the John
Harrison clocks still operate after hundreds of years because of the lignum vitae wood
employed in their construction, whereas his metal clocks are seldom run due to potential
wear.
Flexure bearings bend a piece of material repeatedly. Some materials fail after repeated
bending, even at low loads, but careful material selection and bearing design can make
flexure bearing life indefinite.
Although long bearing life is often desirable, it is sometimes not necessary. Harris describes a
bearing for a rocket motor oxygen pump that gave several hours life, far in excess of the
several tens of minutes life needed.[1]
Maintenance
Many bearings require periodic maintenance to prevent premature failure, although some
such as fluid or magnetic bearings may require little maintenance.
Most bearings in high cycle operations need periodic lubrication and cleaning, and may
require adjustment to minimise the effects of wear.
Bearing life is often much better when the bearing is kept clean and well-lubricated.
However, many applications make good maintenance difficult. For example bearings in the
conveyor of a rock crusher are exposed continually to hard abrasive particles. Cleaning is of
little use because cleaning is expensive, yet the bearing is contaminated again as soon as the
conveyor resumes operation. Thus, a good maintenance program might lubricate the bearings
frequently but clean them never.
Types
There are many different types of bearings.
Stiffne
Type Description Friction Speed Life Notes
ss†

Plain Rubbing Depends on Good, Low to Moderate Widely used,

bearin surfaces, materials provide very (depends on relatively
g usually with and d wear high lubrication) high friction,
lubricant; constructio is low, suffers from
some n, PTFE has but stiction in
bearings use coefficient some some
pumped of friction slack is applications.
lubrication ~0.05-0.35, normall Depending
and behave depending y upon the
similarly to upon fillers present application,
fluid added lifetime can
bearings. be higher or
 lower than
rolling
element
bearings.

Rolling
coefficient
of friction
with steel
can be
~0.005
(adding Used for
Good, Moderat
Rolling Ball or rollers resistance Moderate to higher
but e to
elemen are used to due to high (depends moment
some high
t prevent or seals, on lubrication, loads than
slack is (often
bearin minimise packed often requires plain
usually requires
g rubbing grease, maintenance) bearings with
present cooling)
preload and lower friction
misalignme
nt can
increase
friction to
as much as
0.125)

Mainly used
in low-load,
high
Jewel Off-center Low Adequate precision
bearin bearing rolls Low due to Low (requires work such as
g in seating flexing maintenance) clocks. Jewel
bearings may
be very
small.

Fluid Fluid is forced Zero Very Very Virtually Can fail

bearin between two friction at high high infinite in some quickly due
g faces and zero speed, (usually applications, to grit or dust
held in by low limited may wear at or other
edge seal to a few startup/shutdo contaminants
hundred wn in some .
feet per cases. Often Maintenance
second negligible free in
at/by maintenance. continuous
seal) use. Can
handle very
large loads
with low
 friction.

Zero
friction at
zero speed,
but
Active
constant
magnetic
power for
bearings
Faces of levitation,
(AMB) need
bearing are eddy
Magne considerable
kept separate currents No Indefinite.
tic power.
by magnets are often Low practical Maintenance
bearin Electrodyna
(electromagn induced limit free.
gs mic bearings
ets or eddy when
(EDB) does
currents) movement
not require
occurs, but
external
may be
power.
negligible if
magnetic
field is
quasi-static

Very high or
Limited
low depending
range of
Flexur Material on materials
movement,
e flexes to give Very and strain in
Very low Low no backlash,
bearin and constrain high. application.
extremely
g movement Usually
smooth
maintenance
motion
free.
†
Stiffness is the amount that the gap varies when the load on the bearing
changes, it is distinct from the friction of the bearing