Bearings

SLIDING CONTACT BEARINGS INTRODUCTION

Bearings are machine elements which are used to support a
rotating member viz., a shaft.
They transmit the load from a rotating member to a stationary
member known as frame or housing. They permit relative motion
of two members in one or two directions with minimum friction,
and also prevent the motion in the direction of the applied load.
The bearings are classified broadly into two categories based on
the type of contact they have between the rotating and the
stationary member
a. Sliding contact
b. Rolling contact
The sliding contact bearings having surface contact and are
coming under lower kinematic pair.
 Bearings are classified under
two main categories:
Plain or slider bearing : -
In which the rotating shaft has a
sliding contact with the bearing
which is held stationary . Due to
large contact area friction
between mating parts is high
requiring greater lubrication.

Rolling or anti-friction bearing : -

Due to less contact area rolling
friction is much lesser than the
sliding friction , hence these
bearings are also known as
antifriction bearing.
 SLIDING CONTACT BEARINGS - ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES

These bearings have certain advantages over the rolling contact

bearings. They are:
1. The design of the bearing and housing is simple.
2. They occupy less radial space and are more compact.
3. They cost less.
4. The design of shaft is simple.
5. They operate more silently.
6. They have good shock load capacity.
7. They are ideally suited for medium and high speed operation.
The disadvantages are:
1. The frictional power loss is more.
2. They required good attention to lubrication.
3. They are normally designed to carry radial load or axial load
only.
 SLIDING CONTACT BEARINGS -
CLASSIFICATION

Sliding contact bearings are classified in three

ways
1. Based on type of load carried
2. Based on type of lubrication
3. Based on lubrication mechanism
1. Bearing classification based on type of load
carried
a. Radial bearings
b. Thrust bearings or axial bearings
c. Radial thrust bearings
 Bearing classification based on type
of lubrication The type of lubrication
means the extent to which the
contacting surfaces are separated in
a shaft bearing combination. This
classification includes
(a) Thick film lubrication
(b) Thin film lubrication
(c) Boundary lubrication
(a )Thick film lubrication As in Fig.1.4 (a) the surfaces are separated
by thick film of lubricant and there will not be any metal-to-metal contact. The
film thickness is anywhere from 8 to 20 m. Typical values of coefficient of
friction are 0.002 to 0.010. Hydrodynamic lubrication is coming under this
category. Wear is the minimum in this case.

(b) Thin film lubrication Here even though the surfaces are separated
by thin film of lubricant, at some high spots Metal-to-metal contact does exist ,
Fig.1.4 (b).Because of this intermittent contacts, it also known as mixed film
lubrication. Surface wear is mild. The coefficient of friction commonly ranges
from 0.004 to 0.10.

(c)Boundary lubrication Here the surface contact is continuous

and extensive as Shown in Fig.1.4(c). The lubricant is continuously
smeared over the surfaces and provides a continuously renewed
adsorbed surface film which reduces the friction and wear. The
typical coefficient of friction is 0.05 to 0.20
 Bearing classification based on
lubrication mechanism
a. Hydrodynamic lubricated bearings
b. Hydrostatic lubricated bearings
c. Elastohydrodynamic lubricated
bearings
d. Boundary lubricated bearings
e. Solid film lubricated bearings
(a) Hydrodynamic lubricated bearings
In these bearings the load-carrying
surfaces are separated by a stable
thick film of lubricant that prevents the
metal-to-metal contact. The film
pressure generated by the moving
surfaces that force the lubricant
through a wedge shaped zone. At
sufficiently high speed the pressure
developed around the journal sustains
the load. This is illustrated in Fig
 (b) Hydrostatic lubricated
bearings In these bearings, externally
pressurized lubricant is fed into the
bearings to separate the surfaces with
thick film of lubricant. These types of
bearings do not require the motion of
the surfaces to generate the lubricant
film. Hence they can operate from very
low speed to high speed. This is
illustrated in Fig.
(c) Elastohydrodynamic lubricated
bearings Rolling contact bearings
come under this category. The oil film
thickness is very small. The contact
pressures are going to be very high.
Hence to prevent the metal-to-metal
contact, surface finishes are to be of
high quality. Such a type of lubrication
can be seen in gears, rolling contact
bearings, cams etc.
 (d) Boundary lubricated bearings
When the speed of the bearing is inadequate, less quantity of
lubricant is delivered to the bearing, an increase in the bearing
load, or an increase in the lubricant temperature resulting in drop
in viscosity any one of these may prevent the formation of thick
film lubrication and establish continuous metal-to-metal contact
extensively. Often bearings operating in such situations are called
boundary lubricated bearings.
(e) Solid film lubricated bearings
For extreme temperature operations ordinary mineral oils are
not satisfactory. Solid film lubricants such as graphite,
molybdenum disulfide or their combinations which withstand high
operating temperature are used. These types of bearings are
common in furnace applications, or trunnion bearings of liquid
metal handling systems
 JOURNAL / SLEEVE
BEARINGS
Among the sliding contact bearings radial
bearings find wide applications in industries
and hence these bearings are dealt in more
detail here. The radial bearings are also called
journal or sleeve bearings. The portion of the
shaft inside the bearing is called the journal
and this portion needs better finish and
specific property. Depending on the extent to
which the bearing envelops the journal, these
bearings are classified as full, partial and
fitted bearings. As shown in Fig.
 Hydrodynamic lubrication
Hydrodynamic lubrication In 1883
Beauchamp Tower discovered that
when a bearing is supplied with
adequate oil, a pressure is developed
in the clearance space when the
journal rotates about an axis that is
eccentric with the bearing axis. He
exhibited that the load can be
sustained by this fluid pressure
without any contact between the two
 The load carrying ability of a
hydrodynamic bearing arises simply
because a viscous fluid resists being
pushed around. Under proper
conditions, this resistance to motion
will develop a pressure distribution in
the film that can support useful load.
Two mechanisms responsible for this
are wedge film and squeeze film
action.
 The load supporting pressure in
hydrodynamic bearings arises from
either
(1) the flow of a viscous fluid in a
converging channel, the wedge film
(2) the resistance of a viscous fluid to
being squeezed out from the between
approaching surface, the squeeze film.
 Stages in hydrodynamic lubrication
Consider a steady load F, a fixed bearing
and a rotating journal.
Stage 1 : At rest, the bearing clearance
space is filled with oil, but the load F has
squeezed out the oil film at the bottom.
Metal-to-contact exists. The vertical axis
of bearing and journal are co-axial. Load
and reaction are in line fig.
 Stage 2: When the journal starts
rotating slowly in clockwise direction,
because of friction, the journal starts
to climb the wall of the bearing
surface as in Fig.1.11. Boundary
lubrication exists now. The wear
normally takes place during this
period. However, the journal rotation
draws the oil between the surfaces
and they separate
 Stage 3: As the speed increases, more oil is drawn in
and enough pressure is built up in the contact zone to
float the journal Fig.1.12. Further increase in speed,
additional pressure of the converging oil flow to the
right of the minimum film thickness position (ho) moves
the shaft slightly to the left of center. As a result full
separation of journal and bearing surfaces occurs. In
stable operating condition, the pressure distribution on
the journal is shown in Fig.1.13. This is known as
Hydrodynamic lubrication or full film/thick film
lubrication. At this equilibrium condition, the pressure
force on journal balances the external load F. The
animation of this lubrication is shown in Fig.1.14.
 Properties of Sliding Contact
Bearing Materials
1. Compressive strength. The maximum bearing pressure is considerably
greater than the average pressure obtained by dividing the load to the
projected area. Therefore the bearing material should have high compressive
strength to withstand this maximum pressure so as to prevent extrusion or
other permanent deformation of the bearing.

2. Fatigue strength. The bearing material should have sufficient fatigue

strength so that it can withstand repeated loads without developing surface
fatigue cracks. It is of major importance in aircraft and automotive engines .

3. Comformability. It is the ability of the bearing material to accommodate

shaft deflections and bearing inaccuracies by plastic deformation (or creep)
without excessive wear and heating.

4. Embeddability. It is the ability of bearing material to accommodate (or

embed) small particles of dust, grit etc., without scoring the material of the
journal.
5. Bondability. Many high capacity bearings are made
by bonding one or more thin layers of a bearing material
to a high strength steel shell. Thus, the strength of the
bond i.e. bondability is an important consideration in
selecting bearing material.
6. Corrosion resistance. The bearing material should
not corrode away under the action of lubricating oil. This
property is of particular importance in internal
combustion engines where the same oil is used to
lubricate the cylinder walls and bearings. In the cylinder,
the lubricating oil comes into contact with hot cylinder
walls and may oxidise and collect carbon deposits from
the walls.
7. Thermal conductivity. The bearing material should be
of high thermal conductivity so as to permit the rapid
removal of the heat generated by friction

8. Thermal expansion. The bearing material should be of

low coefficient of thermal expansion, so that when the
bearing operates over a wide range of temperature, there
is no undue change in the clearance
 Terms used in Hydrodynamic
Journal Bearing
A hydrodynamic journal bearing is shown in Fig. in
which O is the centre of the journal and O is the
centre of the bearing.
Let D = Diameter of the bearing,
d = Diameter of the journal,
and
l = Length of the bearing.
The following terms used in hydrodynamic journal
bearing are important from the subject point of
view :
1. Diametral clearance. It the
difference between the diameters of the
bearing and the journal. Mathematically,
diametral clearance,
c=Dd
2. Radial clearance. It is the
difference between the radii of the
bearing and the journal.
Mathematically, radial clearance,
3. Diametral clearance ratio. It is
the ratio of the diametral clearance to
the diameter of the
journal. Mathematically, diametral
clearance ratio
4. Eccentricity. It is the radial distance between
the centre (O) of the bearing and the displaced
centre (O) of the bearing under load. It is denoted
by e.
5. Minimum oil film thickness. It is the
minimum distance between the bearing and the
journal,
under complete lubrication condition. It is denoted
by h0 and occurs at the line of centres as shown in
Fig. Its value may be assumed as c / 4.
6. Attitude or eccentricity ratio. It
is the ratio of the eccentricity to the
radial clearance.
Mathematically, attitude or
eccentricity ratio,
7. Short and long bearing. If the
ratio of the length to the diameter of
the journal (i.e. l / d) is less than 1,
then the bearing is said to be short
bearing. On the other hand, if l / d is
greater than 1, then the bearing is
known as long bearing.
 Bearing Characteristic Number and Bearing
Modulus for
Journal Bearings

The coefficient of friction in design of

bearings is of great importance,
because it affords a means for
determining the loss of power due to
bearing friction. It has been shown
by experiments that the coefficient of
friction for a full lubricated journal
bearing is a function of three
variables, i.e.
 Critical Pressure of the Journal Bearing

The pressure at which the oil film

breaks down so that metal to metal
contact begins, is known as critical
pressure or the minimum
operating pressure of the bearing.
It may be obtained by the following
empirical relation, i.e. Critical
pressure or minimum operating
pressure,
 Sommerfeld Number

The Sommerfeld number is also a

dimensionless parameter used
extensively in the design of journal
bearings. Mathematically,
Heat Generated in a Journal Bearing

The heat generated in a bearing is due to the fluid friction and

friction of the parts having relative motion. Mathematically, heat
generated in a bearing
Heat dissipated by the
bearing
 The mass of the oil to remove the
heat generated at the bearing may
be obtained by equating the heat
generated to the heat taken away by
the oil. We know that the heat taken
away by the oil
Collar Bearings
Rolling contact bearings
Specification:
Specification:
Specification:
'SKF' stands for Svenska Kullager Fabriken
which means 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory' in the Swedish language.
 Series:
1. Extra light (100)
2. Light (200)
3. Medium (300)
4. Heavy (400)

Type of Bearing:
Deep groove ball bearings:6
Self aligning ball bearing:2
Single row angular contact ball bearing:7
Single row thrust ball bearing:51
Double row angular contact ball bearing:3
Cylindrical roller bearing:NU2
 If a bearing is designated by the number 305, it
means that the bearing is of medium series whose
bore is 05 x 5. i.e.. 25 mm.

If a bearing is designated by the number 6305, it

means that the bearing is deep groove ball
bearing of medium series whose bore is 05 x 5.
i.e.. 25 mm.
Notes:

1. The extra light and light series are used where the loads
are moderate and shaft sizes are comparatively large and
also where available space is limited.

2. The medium series has a capacity 30 to 40 per cent over

the light series.

3. The heavy series has 20 to 30 per cent capacity over the

medium series. This series is not used extensively in
industrial applications.
Load Carrying Capacity of Bearings:
1.Static Load Carrying Capacity (Basic
Static Load Rating )
2.Dynamic Load Carrying Capacity(Basic
Dynamic Load Rating )
 Basic Static Load Rating of Rolling Contact Bearings

(i) The load carried by a non-rotating bearing is called a static load.

Note: The permanent deformation which appear in balls (or rollers)

and race ways under static loads of moderate magnitude, increase
gradually with increasing load.
According to IS : 3823-1984, the basic static load rating (Co) in Newton's for ball
and roller bearings may be obtained as discussed below:
(i) For radial ball bearings, the basic static radial: load rating :(Co) is given by

Co = fo i.Z.D2 cos
where
i = Number of rows of balls in anyone bearing,
Z = Number of balls per row;
D = Diameter of balls, in mm,
= Nominal angle of contact i.e. the nominal angle between the
line of action of the ball load and a plane perpendicular to the
axis of bearing, and
fo = A factor depending upon the type of bearing.
The value of factor (fo) for bearings made of hardened steel are
taken as follows:
fo = 3.33, for self-aligning ball bearings
= 12.3, for radial contact and angular contact groove ball
(ii) For radial roller bearings, the basic static radial load rating
is given by
Co =fo.i.Z.le.D cos
where
i = Number of rows of rollers in the bearing,
Z = Number of rollers per row,
Ie = Effective length of contact between one roller and that
ring (or washer) where the contact is the shortest (in mm).
It is equal to the overall length of roller minus roller
chamfers or grinding undercuts,
D = Diameter of roller in mm. it is the mean diameter in case of
tapered rollers,
= Nominal angle of contact. It is the angle between the line of
action of the roller resultant load and a plane perpendicular
to the axis of the bearing, and
fo = 21.6, for bearings made of hardened steel.
(iii) For thrust ball bearings, the basic static axial load rating is given
by
Co =fo.Z.D2 sin
Where Z = Number of balls carrying thrust in one direction, and
fo =49, for bearings made of hardened steel.

(iv) For thrust roller bearings, the basic static axial load rating is
given by
Co =fo.Z.leD.sin

Where Z = Number of rollers carrying thrust in one direction, and

fo =98.1, for bearings made of hardened steel.
 Life of a Bearing

The life of an individual ball (or roller) bearing may be defined as the
number of revolutions (orhours at some given constant speed) which
the bearing runs before the first evidence of fatigue develops in the
material of one of the rings or any of the rolling elements.
The rating life of a group of apparently identical ball or roller
bearings is defined as the number of revolutions (or hours at some
given constant speed) that 90 per cent of a group of bearings will
complete or exceed before the first evidence of fatigue develops (i.e.
only 10 per cent of a group of bearings fail due to fatigue).
The term minimum life is also used to denote the rating life. It has
been found that the life which 50 per cent of a group of bearings will
complete or exceed is approximately 5 times the life which 90 per
cent of the bearings will complete or exceed. In other words, we may
say that the average life of a bearing is 5 times the rating life (or
minimum life). It may be noted that the longest life of a single
bearing is seldom longer than the 4 times the average life and the
maximum life of a
single bearing is about 30 to 50 times the minimum life
V=1.0 for all bearings if inner race is rotating
=1.2 for all bearings if inner race is stationary