Types of Rolling Contact Bearings

Rolling contact bearings are also known as anti-friction bearings due to their low friction characteristics between balls and inner and outer rings. Rolling contact bearings are used for radial, thrust, and a combination of these loads. Rolling contact bearings are often used due to their lower price, lower maintenance cost and ease of operation.

Rolling Contact bearings are of two types they are:

1. Ball-bearing 
2. Roller bearing

The rolling contact bearings illustrated below represent a small set of various ball and roller bearings.

Thrust Ball Bearing:

A thrust ball bearing can support an axial load in one direction. These bearings are designed not to accommodate radial loads. The components of these bearings can be easily separated. 

Angular Contact Ball Bearing:

Angular contact ball bearings and radial loads can withstand a large thrust load in a single direction.

Self-aligning Ball Bearing:

In self-aligning ball bearings, there are two sets of balls; one runs on a pair of grooves on the inner ring, and a single outer ring has a concave surface.

Needle Roller Bearing:

Needle roller bearings have long and thin rollers. These bearings are used for applications where radial space is limited.

Deep Groove Bearing:

In deep groove bearings, balls are fitted well into the deep grooves, enabling the bearing to support axial loads in both directions. The bearing illustrated on the left side has a single row of balls.

Self-aligning Ball Bearing:

In self-aligning ball bearings, there are two sets of balls; one runs on a pair of grooves on the inner ring, and a single outer ring has a concave surface.

Spherical Roller Bearing:

In spherical roller bearings, there is angular contact between the rollers and raceways. The bearings can withstand both axial and radial loads. The double set of rollers in spherical roller bearings permits the bearing to accommodate shaft misalignment. Notice that the bearing rollers illustrated on the left side are not cylindrical, hence the adjective `spherical.'

'Tapered Roller Bearing:

In tapered roller bearings, the inner & outer rings and the rollers are tapered to simultaneously support axial and radial loads. In these bearings, the ratio of the axial and radial loads supported depends on the angle between the roller and bearing axes. A higher angle helps to support a more enormous axial load.

Wheel Hub Bearing:

Wheel Hub bearings are manufactured in large quantities annually to meet the industry's needs. These bearings support the radial load due to the weight of the automobiles. These bearings also support thrust loads developed when the automobile's motion is not linear.