Almost every mechanism that has moving parts also has bearings. The bearing serves to fix the spatial position of the shaft and ensure the rotation of the shaft with the least resistance.
The most common type is rolling bearings . They consist of inner and outer rings and rolling elements of various shapes. The rolling elements can be separated by cages. By the type of transferred load bearings are:
- radial,
- angular contact,
- persistent,
- linear.
Radial bearings prevent transmission loads along the shaft axis. Angular contact bearings can transmit both radial loads (across the shaft) and axial loads. This type of bearing is the most common. For example, the bearings of the hub of the drive wheels of a car are precisely angular contact. A thrust or support bearing only transfers the load directed along the axis of the shaft. If a lateral load occurs, the bearing rings can be displaced and lead to failure of the entire mechanism.
The rolling bodies can be balls or rollers. Bearings are available in single row, double row and multi row. The number of rows largely depends on the magnitude of the loads transmitted by the rotating parts.
The durability and reliability of the bearing directly depends on the quality of the steel used during its manufacture, the correct choice and correct installation. The world leader in bearing production is SKF , which was founded more than 100 years ago. Many engineering giants around the world rely on this company's products for quality and product reliability.
