A Guide on Different Types of Roller Bearings

 

Even though plenty of bearings are accessible in the ground, certain kinds of bearings such as Combined Bearings, ball bearings, and cylindrical bearings are highly used in several industries. Among them, roller bearings always come in the top position. It is also called as the rolling element bearings, which are much similar to the ball bearings. It is because roller bearing is designed in the way to carry the load while reducing friction. On the other hand, roller bearings transmit loads with the help of the cylinder rolling elements instead of balls to keep the separation between the bearing moving parts.

This versatile bearing contains single and multiple rows of the rolling elements to fulfill the demands of the users. Usually, multiple rows are used to enhance radial load capacity. In addition, access to the different roller shapes minimizes the friction further and then supports both axial and radial loads. When compared to conventional ball bearings, roller bearings has the ability to handle higher loads, but their applications are limited to low-speed operations. Some of the major types of roller bearings are self-aligning and easy to overcome mounting and misalignment issues. It also minimizes the costs of the repair, maintenance, and labor requirements.

Types and applications of roller bearings

There are thousands of different types of roller bearings accessible to fulfill certain application needs. Below mentioned are the major types of roller bearings.

- Cylindrical roller bearings – This bearing is longer than its diameter so that it can tolerate higher loads when compared to ball bearings. It also carries heavy radial loads and uses in the high-speed applications. It is further divided into many types, such as Full Complement Cylindrical Roller Bearings.

- Spherical roller bearings – It has the ability to carry heavy loads while dealing with shaft deflection and misalignment. It is designed to have tapered or cylindrical bores for mounting with or without the sleeve adapter. It also handles axial loading in either heavy shock loads or direction.

- Needle roller bearings – This bearing is extremely thinner when compared to conventional roller bearings. It is designed with or without the inner ring. It is ideal for dealing with the radial space constraints in the high speed and heavy load applications. It is generally offered with metric and inch seals.

Apart from these, you will also access taper roller bearings, Axial Cylindrical Roller Bearing, and others to be used in heavy equipment, manufacturing, power generation, etc.