Ball Bearing

Background
Ever since man began to need to move things, he has used round rollers to make the job
easier. Probably the first rollers were sticks or logs, which were a big improvement over dragging
things across the ground, but still pretty hard work. Egyptians used logs to roll their huge blocks of
stone for the pyramids. Eventually, someone came up with the idea of securing the roller to
whatever was being moved, and built the first "vehicle" with "wheels." However, these still had
bearings made from materials rubbing on each other instead of rolling on each other. It wasn't until
the late eighteenth century that the basic design for bearings was developed. In 1794, Welsh
ironmaster Philip Vaughan patented a design for ball bearings to support the axle of a carriage.
Development continued in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, spurred by the advancement
of the bicycle and the automobile.

There are thousands of sizes, shapes, and kinds of rolling bearings; ball bearings, roller bearings,
needle bearings, and tapered roller bearings are the major kinds. Sizes run from small enough to run
miniature motors to huge bearings used to support rotating parts in hydroelectric power plants;
these large bearings can be ten feet (3.04 meters) in diameter and require a crane to install. The
most common sizes can easily be held in one hand and are used in things like electric motors.

This article will describe only ball bearings. In these bearings, the rolling part is a ball, which rolls
between inner and outer rings called races. The balls are held by a cage, which keeps them evenly
spaced around the races. In addition to these parts, there are a lot of optional parts for special
bearings, like seals to keep oil or grease in and dirt out, or screws to hold a bearing in place. We
won't worry here about these fancy extras.

Raw Materials
Almost all parts of all ball bearings are made of steel. Since the bearing has to stand up to a lot of
stress, it needs to be made of very strong steel. The standard industry classification for the steel in
these bearings is 52100, which means that it has one percent chromium and one percent carbon
(called alloys when added to the basic steel). This steel can be made very hard and tough by heat
treating. Where rusting might be a problem, bearings are made from 440C stainless steel.

The cage for the balls is traditionally made of thin steel, but some bearings now use molded plastic
cages, because they cost less to make and cause less friction.

The Manufacturing
Process
There are four major parts to a standard ball bearing: the outer race, the rolling balls, the inner race,
and the cage.
Races

• 1 Both races are made in almost the same way. Since they are both rings of steel, the process
starts with steel tubing of an appropriate size. Automatic machines similar to lathes use
cutting tools to cut the basic shape of the race, leaving all of the dimensions slightly too
large. The reason for leaving them too large is that the races must be heat treated before
being finished, and the steel

Surprisingly, the rolling balls start out as thick steel wire. Then, in a cold heading process,
the wire is cut into small pieces smashed between two steel dies. The result is a ball that
looks like the planet Saturn, with a ring around its middle called "flash."

usually warps during this process. They can be machined back to their finished size after
heat treating.

• 2 The rough cut races are put into a heat treating furnace at about 1,550 degrees Fahrenheit
(843 degrees Celsius) for up to several hours (depending on the size of the parts), then
dipped into an oil bath to cool them and make them very hard. This hardening also makes
them brittle, so the next step is to temper them. This is done by heating them in a second
oven to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit (148.8 degrees Celsius), and then letting them cool in
air. This whole heat treatment process makes parts which are both hard and tough.
• 3 After the heat treatment process, the races are ready for finishing. However, the races are
now too hard to cut with cutting tools, so the rest of the work must be done with grinding
wheels. These are a lot like what you would find in any shop for sharpening drill bits and
tools, except that several different kinds and shapes are needed to finish the races. Almost
every place on the race is finished by grinding, which leaves a very smooth, accurate
surface. The surfaces where the bearing fits into the machine must be very round, and the
sides must be flat. The surface that the balls roll on is ground first, and then lapped. This
means that a very fine abrasive slurry is used to polish the races for several hours to get
 almost a mirror finish. At this point, the races are finished, and ready to be put together with
the balls.

Balls

• 4 The balls are a little more difficult to make, even though their shape is very simple.
Surprisingly, the balls start out as thick wire. This wire is fed from a roll into a machine that
cuts off a short piece, and then smashes both ends in toward the middle. This process is
called cold heading. Its name comes from the fact that the wire is not

The bulge around the middle of the rolling balls is removed in a machining proess. The balls
are placed in rough grooves between two cast iron discs. One disc rotates while the other
one is stationary; the friction removes the flash. From here, the balls are heat treated,
ground, and lapped, which leaves the balls with a very smooth finish.

heated before being smashed, and that the original use for the process was to put the heads
on nails (which is still how that is done). At any rate, the balls now look like the planet
Saturn, with a ring around the middle called "flash."

• 5 The first machining process removes this flash. The ball bearings are put between the
faces of two cast iron disks, where they ride in grooves. The inside of the grooves are rough,
which tears the flash off of the balls. One wheel rotates, while the other one stays still. The
stationary wheel has holes through it so that the balls can be fed into and taken out of the
grooves. A special conveyor feeds balls into one hole, the balls rattle around the groove, and
then come out the other hole. They are then fed back into the conveyor for many trips
through the wheel grooves, until they have been cut down to being fairly round, almost to
the proper size, and the flash is completely gone. Once again, the balls are left oversize so
that they can be ground to their finished size after heat treatment. The amount of steel left
for finishing is not much; only about 8/1000 of an inch (.02 centimeter), which is about as
thick as two sheets of paper.
 • 6 The heat treatment process for the balls is similar to that used for the races, since the kind
of steel is the same, and it is best to have all the parts wear at about the same rate. Like the
races, the balls become hard and tough after heat treating and tempering. After heat
treatment, the balls are put back into a machine that works the same way as the flash
remover, except that the wheels are grinding wheels instead of cutting wheels. These wheels
grind the balls down so that they are round and within a few ten thousandths of an inch of
their finished size.
• 7 After this, the balls are moved to a lapping machine, which has cast iron wheels and uses
the same abrasive lapping compound as is used on the races. Here, they will be lapped for 8-
10 hours, depending on

The four parts of a finished ball bearing: inner race, outer race, cage, and ball.

how precise a bearing they are being made for. Once again, the result is steel that is
extremely smooth.

Cage

• 8 Steel cages are stamped out of fairly thin sheet metal, much like a cookie cutter, and then
bent to their final shape in a die. A die is made up of two pieces of steel that fit together,
with a hole the shape of the finished part carved inside. When the cage is put in between and
the die is closed, the cage is bent to the shape of the hole inside. The die is then opened, and
the finished part is taken out, ready to be assembled.
• 9 Plastic cages are usually made by a process called injection molding. In this process, a
hollow metal mold is filled by squirting melted plastic into it, and letting it harden. The
mold is opened up, and the finished cage is taken out, ready for assembly.
Assembly

• 10 Now that all of the parts are made, the bearing needs to be put together. First, the inner
race is put inside the outer race, only off to one side as far as possible. This makes a space
between them on the opposite side large enough to insert balls between them. The required
number of balls is put in, then the races are moved so that they are both centered, and the
balls distributed evenly around the bearing. At this point, the cage is installed to hold the
balls apart from each other. Plastic cages are usually just snapped in, while steel cages
usually have to be put in and riveted together. Now that the bearing is assembled, it is coated
with a rust preventative and packaged for shipping.

Quality Control
Bearing making is a very precise business. Tests are run on samples of the steel coming to the
factory to make sure that it has the right amounts of the alloy metals in it. Hardness and toughness
tests are also done at several stages of the heat treating process. There are also many inspections
along the way to make sure that sizes and shapes are correct. The surface of the balls and where
they roll on the races must be exceptionally smooth. The balls can't be out of round more than 25
millionths of an inch, even for an inexpensive bearing. High-speed or precision bearings are
allowed only five-millionths of an inch.

The Future
Ball bearings will be used for many years to come, because they are very simple and have become
very inexpensive to manufacture. Some companies experimented with making balls in space on the
space shuttle. In space, molten blobs of steel can be spit out into the air, and the zero gravity lets
them float in the air. The blobs automatically make perfect spheres while they cool and harden.
However, space travel is still expensive, so a lot of polishing can be done on the ground for the cost
of one "space ball".

Other kinds of bearings are on the horizon, though. Bearings where the two objects never touch
each other at all are efficient to run but difficult to make. One kind uses magnets that push away
from each other and can be used to hold things apart. This is how the "mag-lev" (for magnetic
levitation) trains are built. Another kind forces air into a space between two close-fitting surfaces,
making them float apart from each other on a cushion of compressed air. However, both of these
bearings are much more expensive to build and operate than the humble, trusted ball bearing.
Types Of Radial Bearings
Since most types of radial bearings can carry some thrust, there is no sharp distinction between
them; however, bearings having a contact angle a = 45 or smaller (a < 45 degrees) are considered
radial bearings and their ratings are given as radial load.

Types of Radial Bearings

Radial ball bearings are available in both inch and metric sizes. A few of the common radial ball
bearings are:

• Deep Groove Ball Bearings

• Self Aligning Ball Bearings
• Angular Contact Ball Bearings
• Cylindrical Roller Bearings
• Needle Roller Bearings
• Spherical Roller Bearings
• Taper Roller Bearings

Deep groove
Deep groove ball bearings are capable of operating at high speeds and are widely used radial
bearings. These non-separable bearings are available in a wide variety of seal, shield and snap-ring
arrangements. It requires little attention or maintenance in service.

Physical Characteristics

• Deep groove ball bearings have deep uninterrupted raceways. This allows them to carry
axial loads in both directions at reasonably high speeds.
• The bearing ring grooves are circular arcs made slightly larger than the radius of the ball.
• The balls make point contact with the raceways (elliptical contact when loaded).
• The inner ring shoulders are of equal height (as the outer ring shoulders).
Advantages Of Deep Groove Ball Bearings

• Can sustain radial, axial, or composite loads.

• Can provide both high-running accuracy and high-speed operation.
• Can take the place of high speed angular contact ball bearings.
• Simple design.
• Maintenance free.
• Longer service life.

Application Of Deep Groove Ball Bearings

Deep groove ball bearings are widely used, when

• axial loads from two directions have to be transmitted, and existing space does not allow
installation of matched spindle bearings.
• best possible guidance of rotating parts is required and speed is less important.

Self Aligning Ball Bearings

Self aligning ball bearings are suitable for applications where misalignment can arise from errors
in mounting or shaft deflection. The steel balls, cage, and inner ring can rotate freely at a certain
angle, as it is stated that the bearings have self-aligning features. Accordingly, misalignment of the
bearing shaft due to the machining and installation of the shaft and housing will be automatically
adjusted.

Physical Characteristics

• The self-aligning ball bearing has two rows of balls.

• A common concave sphered raceway in the outer ring.
• The center of whose curvature meets that of the bearing itself, so that the inner ring, balls
and cage continue to rotate.
• The self-aligning ball bearing with a tapered bore can easily be fit to the shaft with an
adapter assembly.

Advantages Of Deep Groove Ball Bearings

• Have the lowest friction of all rolling bearings.

• Run cooler even at high speeds.
• Easy mounting and dismounting.
 • The permissible operating speed is not dependent on the common criteria like heat
generation or cage stability and strength.

Application Of Deep Groove Ball Bearings

• Self-aligning ball bearings are used for commercial ground shafting applications.
• Since axial load capacity is limited, self-aligning ball bearings are not suitable for
applications with heavy axial loads.
• Furthermore, if an adapter is used on the tapered bore of the inner diameter, installation and
disassembly are much simpler and for this reason adapters are often used on equipment with
drive shafts.

Angular contact ball bearings

Angular contact ball bearings are non-separable type bearings and typically used for carrying
combined (axial and radial) loads. They can carry pure axial load and operate in higher speed.
That's why many people refer to them incorrectly as thrust bearings.

Physical Characteristics

Angular contact ball bearings have raceways in the inner and outer rings that are displaced with
respect to each other in the direction of the bearing axis.

Cylindrical roller bearings

Cylindrical roller bearings use rollers for rolling elements, and therefore has a high load capacity.
The rollers are guided by ribs on either the inner or outer ring, therefore these bearings are also
suitable for high speed applications. The inner and outer rings can be separated to facilitate
assembly, and both can be fit with shaft or housing tightly.

If there is no ribs, either the inner or the outer ring can move freely in the axial direction.
Cylindrical roller bearings are therefore ideal to be used as so-called "free side bearings" that absorb
shaft expansion.

Physical Characteristics

Although the rolling elements in cylindrical roller bearings are called "cylindrical," they are not
true cylinders. True cylinders would produce stress concentrations at the ends of the roller-race
contact, resulting in high wear and high sensitivity to misalignment. Instead, rollers are usually
crowned or end relieved.

Application Of Cylindrical Roller Bearings

Cylindrical roller bearings are used in power generation, oilfield, mining and aggregate processing,
gear drives, rolling mills, machine tools, transmissions, vibration machines and as wheelset
bearings for rail vehicles.

Needle roller bearings

Needle roller bearings use needle rollers as rolling elements.

The needle rollers are a maximum of 5 mm in diameter and
are 3 to 10 times as long as they are in diameter. Because the
bearings use needle rollers as rolling elements, the cross-
section is thin, but they have a high load capacity for their
size. Because of the large number of rolling elements, the
bearings have high rigidity and are ideally suited to wobbling
or pivoting motion.

Physical Characteristics

• Its cylindrical rollers, which are thin and long in

relation to their diameter. They are referred to as
needle rollers.
• Needle Rollers are used for needle roller bearings and
are rigid and highly accurate.
• In spite of their low cross section the bearings have a
high load carrying capacity.
• Available with or without an inner ring.
• The needle rollers are a maximum of 5 mm in
diameter and are 3 to 10 times as long as they are in diameter.

spherical roller bearings

Commonly found in the steel industry, the spherical roller bearings

have many options including tapered bore, sealing, various grease
types and mounting arrangements. Spherical roller bearings are able
to adjust center alignment to handle inclination of the axle or shaft. It
has an outer ring with a spherical raceway surface and an inner ring,
which holds two rows of barrel-shaped rolling elements.

Spherical roller bearings can easily be mounted on a shaft by means of an adapter or withdrawal
sleeve. The bearing is capable of supporting heavy loads, and is therefore often used in industrial
machinery. When heavy axial load is applied to the bearing, the load on rollers of another row is
disappeared, and can cause problems. Attention must therefore be paid to operating conditions.

Physical Characteristics
 • Spherical roller bearings consist of an outer ring having a continuous spherical raceway
• Within which operates two rows of barrel-shaped rollers which are in turn guided by an
inner ring with two raceways separated by a center rib.
• This bearing has self-aligning properties, and therefore is suited for use where misalignment
between the inner and outer rings occurs from housing installation error or shaft flexure.
• Spherical roller bearings have a large capacity for radial loads, axial loads in either
direction, and complex loads. .

In addition to bearings with cylindrical bore, those with tapered bore are also available. Bearings
with tapered bore are specified by attaching the suffix "K" to the end of the bearing's basic number.
The standard taper ratio is 1:12 for bearings with a "K" suffix, but for bearings in series 240 and
241 the suffix "K30" indicates the taper ratio for a bearing is 1:30. Most tapered bore bearings
incorporate the use of adapters and withdrawal sleeves for shaft mounting.

taper roller bearings

The taper roller bearings can carry combinations of large radial and thrust loads or thrust load
only. Because of the difference between the inner and outer raceway contact angles, there is a force
component, which drives the tapered rollers against the guide flange. The relatively large sliding
friction generated at this flange makes this bearing typically unsuitable for high-speed applications
without special consideration to coolant / lubricant. Typical applications include construction
machinery, gear construction, vehicle manufacture and rolling mills.

Physical Characteristics

• Taper roller bearings have tapered inner and outer ring raceways between which tapered
rollers are arranged.
• The projection lines of all the tapered surfaces meet at a common point on the bearing axis.
Their design makes taper roller bearings particularly suitable for the accommodation of
combined (radial and axial) loads.
• The axial load carrying capacity of the bearings is largely determined by the contact angle.
The larger the angle, the higher the axial load carrying capacity.
• Taper roller bearings have the logarithmic contact profile that provides for optimum stress
distribution over the roller/raceway contacts
• The special design of the sliding surfaces of the guide flange and large roller ends
considerably promotes lubricant film formation in the roller end/flange contacts.

Advantages Of Taper roller bearings

• Dimensional Stability
• Long Life Even In Contaminated Lubricant
 • Durable Steel Cage
• Dimensionally Interchangeable With Other Bearing Manufacturers

Applications Of Taper Roller Bearings

• In many applications taper roller bearings are used in back-back pairs so that axial forces
can be supported equally in either direction.
• Pairs of taper roller bearings are used in car and vehicle wheel bearings where they must
cope simultaneously with large vertical (radial) and horizontal (axial) forces.
• Agriculture, Construction and Mining Equipment
• Various Axle Systems
• Conveyance Vehicles
• Gear Box, Engine Motors, Reducers

Thrust Bearings
• Thrust Ball Bearings
• Angular Contact Thrust Ball Bearings
• Cylindrical Roller Thrust Bearings
• Needle Roller Thrust Bearings
• Spherical Roller Thrust Bearings

• Taper Roller Thrust Bearings

Thrust Ball Bearings

Thrust Ball Bearings carry pure thrust (axial) loads. When a load is properly applied to this bearing,
the internal contact points are aligned on a plane parallel to the shaft. Radial loads dislodge the balls
from their track. Thrust ball bearings can be single direction and double direction designs.

Single Direction Thrust Ball Bearings

These bearings consist of one row of balls, which rotate, between a housing washer and a shaft
washer. They are separable type and can be mounted separately. Single direction thrust ball
bearings, can accommodate axial loads in one direction and locate a shaft axially in one direction.
They are not suitable to any radial load.

Double Direction Thrust Ball Bearings

These bearings consist of two separate rows of balls which rotate between a center shaft washer and
two housing washers. This bearing should be used when a thrust load is applied from two
directions. They are separable type and can be mounted separately on the shaft. They can axially
locate a shaft in both directions and should not be subject to radial loads.

The angular contact thrust ball bearings

The angular contact thrust ball bearings shown here were originally
designed to support the rotary tables of drilling rigs but are also
suitable for other applications where high load carrying capacity,
high axial stiffness and low friction torque are important. In contrast
to conventional thrust ball bearings, angular contact thrust bearings
can accommodate radial loads in addition to axial loads and are able
to operate at high speeds.

Single direction angular contact ball bearings

These are able to take up axial loads acting in one direction only.
They are of separable type. The washers and ball and cage assembly can be mounted individually.
In the main application, two bearings are adjusted against each other. The second bearing has to
carry the weight of the drill when it is stationary and has a higher load carrying capacity than the
first bearing.

Double direction angular contact thrust ball bearings

Here the upper bearing has the higher load carrying capacity and the smaller bearing in the opposite
direction is combined with it to form a unit. These bearings have low height and can accommodate
axial loads acting in both directions as well as moment loads. A single bearing can support rotating
machine components in relation to stationary components.

Cylindrical roller thrust bearings

Cylindrical roller thrust bearings are suitable for heavy axial load
accommodation. They are relatively insensitive to shock loads.
They are very stiff and require little axial space. They are most
commonly available as single direction bearings and can
accommodate axial loads acting in single direction. Cylindrical
thrust bearings may be produced in single row and double row
designs. Double row patterns are mainly used where thrust ball
bearings have insufficient load carrying capacity.

The cylindrical surface of the rollers is slightly relieved towards the ends. Thus the contact profile
virtually eliminates damaging edge stresses. The bearings are of separable type, the individual
components can be mounted separately.

Double direction cylindrical roller thrust bearings can easily be assembled by combining
appropriate shaft washers or housing with two cylindrical roller and cage thrust assemblies and a
suitable intermediate washer with internal or external centering.These intermediate washers should
have the same quality and hardness as the bearing washers

Needle roller thrust bearings

Needle roller thrust bearings are for heavy axial loads. They require
a minimum axial space and are arranged rather stiffly. They can
accommodate axial loads acting in one direction i.e. they are single
direction bearings. It can take as less space as a thrust washer can. The roller, cage and the raceways
can all be separated and be combined with washers of various designs.

Needle roller and cage thrust assemblies consist of a cage that guide and retain a large number of
needle rollers. The cylindrical surface of the rollers is slightly relieved towards the ends to ensure
an even load distribution and prevent the damage to the edges.

spherical roller thrust bearings

In spherical roller thrust bearings the load is transmitted from one

raceway to the other at an angle to the bearing axis. They can
accommodate radial loads in addition to the acting axial loads. They
are self-aligning making them insensitive to shaft deflection and
misalignment of the shaft. Some bearing arrangements have a number
of asymmetrical rollers. They can support very heavy axial loads and
allow high-speed operation.

Some bearings have a pressed steel window-type cage, which, with the
rollers, forms a non-separable assembly with the shaft washer. All other bearings have a machined
brass or steel cage guided by a sleeve held in the shaft washer bore. The shaft washer and cage with
rollers form a non-separable unit.

Taper roller thrust bearings

Taper roller thrust bearings enable axially very compact bearing

arrangements and capacity to carry very heavy axial loads, are
insensitive to shock loads and are stiff.

Single direction taper roller thrust bearings are used for the kingpin
bearing arrangement of commercial vehicles. They have a full
complement of rollers and are held together by a sheet steel cover.
Most of these bearings are fitted with rubbing seals of wear and oil-
resistant nitrile rubber.

Bearings with shaft and housing washers of same dimensions have a tapered raceway and one
retaining flange. These bearings suitable for very heavy axial loads

Certain bearings have a shaft washer with tapered raceway and retaining flange. These bearings can
accept minor eccentricities of the shaft with respect to the housing bore without much influence on
bearing performance. Bearings are fitted with a roller-centered cage.

Double direction taper roller thrust bearings are used with multi-row cylindrical roller bearings
in rolling mill applications. Those bearings with a plane shaft washer are able to accommodate
slight eccentricities of the shaft with respect to the housing bore. A spacer sleeve is arranged
between the two housing washers.

The double direction taper roller thrust bearings with tapered raceways on the shaft and housing
washers have a higher axial load carrying capacity than the ones with a plane shaft washer. They are
usually mounted with a loose fit on the roll neck. The shaft washer of most bearings has one or two
locating slots.
Taper roller thrust bearings accommodate extremely heavy axial loads and permit angular
movement of the screw spindle with respect to the support. These bearings are full complement type
and have extremely long rollers with large diameter