Bearings and bearings-related products are very important components in most machinery. Their primary purpose is to roll by minimizing friction.
Various applications require bearings explicitly designed to handle a particular kind of load. For instance, most radial ball bearings can handle both radial and thrust loads. While roller bearings are better suited where only radial loads are required. The intended use for the bearings should be considered along with load ratings, limiting speeds, before selecting and installing a particular type of bearing.

Below are the most common types of bearings:

Deep Groove Ball Bearings

Deep groove ball bearings are the most widely used bearing type and are extremely versatile. They have low friction and are optimized for low noise and vibration which enables high rotational speeds. The purpose of deep groove precision ball bearings is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. Radial Ball bearings can support moderate radial loads and moderate axial loads (parallel to the shaft). They can operate at high speeds (400,000 RPMs and higher).

Features of Deep Groove Ball Bearings:

They can handle radial and a limited axial (or thrust) load. Deep groove ball bearings are a good option if a load is applied to the bearing from both the side of a shaft (radial) and along the shaft (axial).

Cylindrical Bearings

Cylindrical roller bearings can handle minimal axial loads in one direction. Double-row cylindrical roller bearings have high radial rigidity and are used primarily for precision machine tools.

The main difference between cylindrical roller bearings and other bearing products and styles is in the name – they use rollers, instead of balls, to reduce friction. The rollers are slightly greater in length than diameter. Compared to ball bearings, cylindrical rollers have a greater radial load capacity. The cylindrical roller design provides ease for applications that operate at relatively faster speeds than other styles of roller bearings.

There are multiple types of cylindrical roller bearings. Single row cylindrical rollers are the most popular and are separable, which makes for easier mounting and dismounting. However, these may not be able to support the radial load of certain applications. Double row and multi-row cylindrical roller bearings offer greater radial load capacity and can also transmit axial loads in one direction.

Like other styles, cylindrical roller bearings have various clearance and lubrication options available depending on the manufacturer and supplier. Cylindrical roller bearings can be made with a cage or as a full complement, without a cage.

Spherical Bearings

Spherical roller bearings have two rows of rollers that run on a common sphered raceway in the outer ring, the inner ring raceways each being inclined at an angle to the bearing axis.

Spherical roller bearings consist of solid outer rings with a concave raceway, solid inner races, rollers with cages. Inner rings have either a cylindrical or a tapered bore. The concave outer ring and the symmetrical barrel rollers compensate for angular misalignment. They can support axial forces in both directions as well as high radial forces. They are designed for very high load carrying capacities. Sizes are also offered sealed.

Spherical roller bearings can simultaneously support substantial axial and radial load combinations of the rolls and cylinders used. They tolerate misalignment between the shaft and housing.

Spherical roller bearings work best in low- to medium-speed applications and can perform well in tough environments and are used in countless industrial applications, where there are heavy loads, moderate speeds and possibly misalignment. Some common applications are gearboxes and wind turbines.

Thrust Bearings

A thrust bearing is a type of rotary bearing. Like other rotary bearings, it allows rotation between parts and supports a high axial load. A thrust bearing consists of two washers or raceways and its rolling elements.

There are different types of thrust bearings, differentiated by the application and the amount of axial load they support. For example, thrust ball bearings are utilized in applications where there is little axial load. Spherical roller thrust bearings, on the other hand, are often seen in applications that feature a high axial load, and can also support shafts that are out of alignment.

All types of thrust bearings are found in higher speed applications such as the automotive and aerospace sectors. As such, they require oil lubrication.

Have a question or looking for a specific bearing or bearing-related product? Contact the Consolidated team or visit our online catalog!