What is thrust bearing?

Thrust bearings are special bearings designed to withstand axial forces, that is, bearings that are driven in a direction parallel to the axis. Thrust bearings are rotary bearings that are designed specifically to support an axial load. In other words, they are capable of rotating along with a machine’s parts. Thrust bearings, in fact, assist in the rotation of a machine’s moving parts. As a machine’s moving parts begin to rotate, they’ll glide along the thrust bearings.

Thrust bearings are generally composed of two thrust washers or more thrust washers and a number of rolling elements. Generally, thrust washers are divided into shaft pieces and seat pieces. The most common types of rolling elements are generally made of iron or copper. The quality cage is combined into a whole. Thrust bearings are divided into thrust ball bearings and thrust roller bearings, The most common type of bearing is steel ball thrust bearing.

Thrust ball bearing is a separable bearing, the shaft ring and seat ring can be separated from the cage and steel ball assembly. The shaft ring is a ring matching the shaft, and the seat ring is a ring matching the bearing seat hole, and there is a gap between the shaft and the shaft; thrust ball bearings can only bear axial loads, and one-way thrust ball bearings can only bear axial loads. For the axial load in one direction, the two-way thrust ball bearing can bear the axial load in two directions; the thrust ball bearing cannot limit the radial displacement of the shaft, and the limit speed is very low, and the one-way thrust ball bearing can limit one of the shaft and the housing Axial displacement in one direction, two-way bearings can limit axial displacement in two directions.

Thrust roller bearings are used to bear axial and radial combined loads dominated by axial loads, but the radial load must not exceed 55% of the axial load. Compared with other thrust roller bearings, this kind of bearing has a lower friction coefficient, higher speed and self-aligning performance. The rollers of the 29000 type bearings are asymmetrical spherical rollers, which can reduce the relative sliding between the rollers and the raceway during work, and the rollers are long, large in diameter, large in number and high in load capacity, and are usually lubricated with oil , Grease lubrication can be used for individual low-speed situations. In the design and selection, it should be preferred; 80000 type thrust cylindrical roller bearings, 90000 type thrust tapered roller bearings and AXK type thrust needle roller bearings can bear unidirectional axial load, which is more axial than thrust ball bearings. The load capacity is much greater, and the rigidity is high, and the axial space is small. Thrust cylindrical roller bearings and thrust needle roller bearings are suitable for low-speed applications, and the speed of thrust tapered roller bearings is slightly higher than that of thrust cylindrical roller bearings.

When shopping for thrust bearings, there are a few things you should know. Thrust bearings are available in different sizes. You’ll need to choose a size that matches the application for which you intend to use it. If a thrust bearing it too big or too small for a machine’s moving parts, you may not be able to use it. Fortunately, you can order thrust bearings in a variety of standard sizes and metric sizes.

Something else to consider when choosing thrust bearings is the ball material. Thrust bearings featuring cheap balls tend to degrade quickly. Over time, the balls may lose their clean and smooth texture, resulting in increased resistance and reduced performance. But you can find thrust bearings with many high-quality ball materials. Some of them have glass balls, whereas others have stainless steel balls. ceramic balls, Both glass and stainless steel are high-quality ball materials that last a long time.