Thrust Roller Bearings

What is Thrust Roller Bearings?

Thrust roller bearings are used to bear the combined axial and radial load, mainly the axial load. Still, the radial load shall not exceed 55% of the axial load. Compared with other thrust roller bearings, this type of bearing has a lower friction factor, higher speed, and has self-aligning performance.

Thrust Roller Bearings Types

Thrust Roller Bearings are of four types:

Cylindrical Roller Thrust Bearings:

These bearings consist of small cylindrical rollers arranged flat with their axes pointing to the axis of the bearing. They give very good carrying capacity and are cheap, but tend to wear due to the differences in radial speed and friction which is higher than with ball bearings.

Needle Roller Thrust Bearings:

Needle roller thrust bearings with a dimensionally stable holder to securely hold and guide a large number of the needle. Needle roller thrust bearings provide a high degree of axial rigidity in the smallest space. Application may be used as the raceway surface of the adjacent part of the machine, a thrust needle bearing space occupied than conventional multiple thrust washer.

Tapered Roller Thrust Bearings:

These tapered roller bearings are miniature; they are arranged so that their axes of sub converge on one point on the bearing axis. We need to calculate the length of the roller diameter carefully. A comprehensive end and a narrow lot. The angle of the roller to provide the correct taper so that each end face of the bearing rollers without slipping smooth scrolling. These are most commonly used in automotive applications types (e.g., a wheel for supporting the car). They are used in pairs in either direction to accommodate the axial thrust and radial loads. Due to the larger contact area can withstand a higher thrust load than the ball but have higher manufacturing costs.

Spherical Roller Thrust Bearings:

The spherical roller thrust bearing is a kind of self-aligning bearing. In using just now, it allows up to about 2 degrees of shaft misalignment. The contact angle helps this bearing handle a small amount of radial load.
This bearing lubrication needs carefully because their large contact area can lead to smear slide. It is noted that to maintain at least a minimum rated load of the bearing to avoid smearing.

Thrust Roller Bearings Application?

Thrust cylindrical roller bearings and thrust tapered roller bearings are suitable for low-speed occasions. The speed of thrust tapered roller bearings is slightly higher than that of thrust cylindrical roller bearings. Thrust cylindrical roller bearings are separable bearings that can only bear the one-way axial load and slight impact and limit the axial displacement of the shaft (or housing) in one direction so that it can be used for one-way axial positioning. But its carrying capacity is far greater than that of thrust ball bearings. When the roller is rolling, due to the different linear speeds at the two ends of the roller, the roller will inevitably slide on the raceway of the ring. Therefore, the limit speed of this type of bearing is lower than that of the thrust ball bearing, and it is usually only suitable for low-speed operation.

Spherical thrust roller bearings are widely used in the steel industry, mining and construction, paper machinery, wind turbines, machine tools, gearboxes, motors, pumps and compressors, and injection molding machines.