There are thousands of sizes, shapes and types of rolling bearings, but ball bearings, roller bearings, needle bearings and tapered roller bearings are the main types. They range in size from small enough to run miniature motors to huge bearings used to support rotating parts in hydroelectric power plants. These large bearings can be mounted with a crane. The most common bearing sizes can be easily held in one hand and can be used, for example, in applications such as electric motors.
Manufacturing ball bearings is much more complicated than we might imagine. Indeed, many operations are required to create them. The modern equipment of the Baltic Bearing Factory (BBF) allows performing complex technological processes and ensuring the production of high-quality bearings of a wide range of models on http://www .bbf-eu.com /en /production /.
Bearing manufacturing is a very precise process. Tests are carried out on steel samples supplied to the plant to ensure that they contain the required amount of alloyed metals. Hardness and toughness tests are also performed at several stages of the heat treatment process. There are also many checks along the way to make sure the dimensions and shapes are correct. All surfaces must be exceptionally smooth.
Future
Ball bearings will be in use for many years because they are very simple and have become very inexpensive. Some companies have experimented with making a bearing in space on a shuttle. In space, molten steel droplets can be released into the air, weightlessness allows them to float in the air. The droplets automatically create perfect spheres as they cool and solidify. However, space travel is still expensive, so you can polish a lot on earth with one space ball.
However, other types of bearings are on the horizon. Bearings in which two objects never touch each other are efficient to operate, but difficult to make. One type uses magnets that repel each other. This is how the mag-lion trains are built (for magnetic levitation). Another view allows air to enter the space between two tight-fitting surfaces, causing them to float apart on a compressed air cushion. However, both of these bearings are much more expensive to manufacture and operate than the humble, reliable ball bearing.
