Roller Thrust Bearing | Image Resource : shutterstock.com
For an effective functioning of a machine, a lot depends on the type of a bearing used. A mechanical component, a bearing has revolutionized the way industries work. Other than guiding the rotational movement of an element, it helps transfer notable loads at different speeds. Bearings, especially the roller thrust bearings are known for high precision and long service life.
You can find their use in a majority of applications, even those operating in extreme conditions. Some of the applications to mention are the automobile industry, agriculture sector, earthmoving machines, construction equipment, aerospace industry, and more. There are several types of roller thrust bearings and the most common ones are a spherical roller thrust bearing, cylindrical roller thrust bearing, needle roller thrust bearing and tapered roller bearing.
How to Select an Appropriate Bearing?
There are several factors to consider while choosing a bearing for an application. Here are some of the most essential ones:
Axial or Radial Loads: When it comes to loads, there are two: axial and radial loads. An axial load is “parallel to the axis”, while a radial load is “horizontal to the axis”. A thrust roller bearing, depending on its design, accommodates either an axial load or a radial load or a combination of both. Where you want to choose a bearing that can handle both axial and radial loads in both directions, you have to go for a spherical roller bearing.
For accommodating heavy axial loads and acting radial loads simultaneously, you need to choose a spherical roller thrust bearing. In order to handle combined loads, both acting radial and axial loads simultaneously, a tapered roller bearing is the right choice. A cylindrical thrust bearing is more suitable to support heavy radial loads, as well as impact loads.
Rotational Speed: This is another factor to be considered for there are a few bearings which can support high speeds. For instance, cylindrical roller thrust bearing, with a cage can handle high radial loads. The same is the case with a spherical roller bearing, with a prong-type cage to handle heavy radial and axial loads.
Misalignment: When choosing a bearing, you need to also look for misalignment because high speeds may sometimes lead to deflection of the shaft and defects in alignment. A spherical roller thrust bearing has a self-aligning feature to accommodate misalignment, while a needle roller bearing self-aligns up to 3-degree of “static misalignment”.
Service Life: The constant use of bearings at high speeds will result in lubrication starvation and wear and tear. There are bearing units, with self-lubrication system, to help supply lubricants during the operation of the machine.
Keeping in mind all the above factors, you can exercise your choice of a suitable roller thrust bearing for an application.
