How Ball Bearings Work?

No one can deny that pushing an object that is placed on a roller is much easier than pushing one that is placed on a bare surface. This comes as a result of resistance between the two surfaces. Additionally, the more resistance there is between two objects, the more likely wear and tear will occur.

However, by using bearings, this resistance can be greatly reduced. Bearings typically work like rollers, but they both have their differences.

• The types of loads supported by bearings

Bearings can handle two types of loads: radial and thrust loads. A good example of a radial load is like the one a vehicle experiences as its wheels are in motion.
On the other hand, thrust loads are those that arise purely from the weight of an object. Most barstools usually experience this kind of load.
Many at times, machines experience both thrust and radial loads. A skateboard, for instance, experiences a radial load from the weight of the skater and a thrust load when it is negotiating a corner.

• Types of bearings

There are up to five types of bearings that are designed for different purposes. There are those that are primarily designed to deal with radial loads. In this category, you are likely to find bearings such as the common ball bearings and tapered roller bearings which can be found in gearboxes. In the category of those that handle thrust loads better, roller bearings are the ones that dominate. However, roller thrust bearings also fall in this category as well, and they can also be used along with ball thrust bearings.

Ball bearings are usually fitted with spherical metallic balls which roll against the two surfaces of a moving machine. Roller bearings, unlike ball bearings usually contain cylindrical-shaped metals that roll over the surfaces of the moving components. Depending on how these cylindrical-shaped metals are placed, a bearing may be used to handle both thrust loads and radial loads. An example of this type of bearing is the tapered roller bearing.

• Uses of bearings

A car and a skateboard are not the only machines that use bearings so as to move freely. Bearings are nowadays being used for things far greater than the common machines we know of.

Bridges

Bridges expand and contract like any other structure. To prevent bridges from cracking during expansion, one side of the bridge is fitted with bearings or rollers so that the bridge can easily extend its length during expansion.

Earthquake-defying buildings

Some buildings also use bearings to prevent them from being destroyed during an earthquake. This is done by placing giant bearings in between a building’s support column and its base.
During an earthquake, the movements from the ground will cause the base of the building to shake along with it. However, due to the bearing, the building’s support columns will remain intact since they will gently roll on the bearing.

• The future of bearings

There have been significant developments in how ball bearings works and it is believed that they will still be indispensable in the future. Statewide Bearings provides a variety of different ball bearings and continually updating their product range with modern bearing technologies. The technology used in magnetic bearing, for instance, shows us that more machines in the future will rely on frictionless moving parts. Without the resistance caused by friction, machines will be able to move at great speeds.

Faizan Ahmad

About the Author:

This article is posted by Faizan who is the Author and Founder of TechSenser. He is a Professional Blogger from India and a passionate writer about Technology, Gadgets, How-to-Guides, etc. You can connect him on Google+.