Ceramic Ball Bearing

Among all the various kinds of ball bearings, the ceramic ball bearing is very important and useful. Compared to the other bearings, the ceramic ball bearing has more advantages. Many industries intend to use this kind of ball bearing due to its benefits. What are the advantages of the ceramic ball bearing? The following content will give you a clear idea.

In our daily life, most of the bearings we see are made of steels. The steel-made bearings are widely used in the various industries such as the farming industry and the manufacturing equipment. Although the ceramic ball bearings may not be commonly seen, they have many typical characteristics that exceed the steel-made bearings.

Firstly, they are lighter than the steel bearings. Generally, their weigh is 40% less than steel bearings. It means that the ceramic ball bearings can work 20% or 40% faster than steel ball bearings. That is to say, they can save more energy.

Secondly, it is obvious that the ceramic ball bearings are made of the ceramic materials. And this kind of material has many advantages. Therefore, it makes the ceramic ball bearings possess the features of both great rigidity and low density, which will minimize the friction as well as heat and vibration. Besides, this special material makes ceramic ball bearings become electrically resistant. Therefore, it is a good choice to use ceramic ball bearings in fluid machinery, electric motors and professional hand tools. All of these characteristics increase the efficiency of ceramic ball bearings.

Thirdly, ceramic ball bearings have a longer life span. Compared to the steel bearings, they can last as much as 10 times longer. As a result, using the ceramic ball bearings will reduce machinery down-time and the costs of the maintenance.

Last but not the least, ceramic ball bearings can work under the severe conditions such as the high temperature and the high speed which may be problems to many other bearings. Moreover, ceramic ball bearings can work better than the other types of bearings due to their less lubrication requirements. Some kinds of the ceramic ball bearings even don't need the lubrication at all. According to this feature, ceramic ball bearings produce less noise than the others.

Ball Bearings

Ball Bearings and its Prominent Features

An introduction of bearings:

A device that allows a controlled relative motion, either rotational or linear, between two parts is called a bearing; according to the principles of operation and applied load’s direction, a bearing include six most common types:

1. sliding bearings
2. rolling element or ball bearings
3. fluid bearings
4. flexible bearings
5. jewel bearings
6. magnetic bearings

As for as the concern of ball bearings matters, contrasting with other bearing types they are precisely cheap due to having low cost balls. Ball bearings are efficient for reducing the friction between two flat surfaces rotating on each other, and are used in from skate boards to washing machines to PC hard drives. Capable of taking radial and axial loads they are used in applications where the load is of lower capacity and is constant in nature.

Types and material of ball bearings:
The metals used in the manufacturing of ball bearings include stainless steel, ceramic hybrid and chrome steel. An angular contact ball bearing is used in devices where forces are in both axial and radial direction. When an axial load passes in a straight line through the bearing, the radial load takes an oblique path to separate the races axially; angular contact angle should be lofty to support the more axial load. Ceramic hybrid ball bearings are better than the conventional ball bearings due to their power of reducing centrifugal loading, they offer less friction, the lighter the ball is, the faster the bearing will spun. The balls in ceramic hybrid bearings are ceramic made but the rings of bearings are of steel, ceramic balls are 40% less than steel balls, thus ceramic ball bearings require less energy to maintain its speed.

Load rating of a ball bearing:

Load rating of any bearing is a significant feature, it is the 1 million inner race revolutions load rating at which 90% bearings can survive. Load rating is also the merit to determine the life of the bearing in applications where fatigue is permanent failure mechanism of a system. Fatigue is a state in which bearings wear out. The causes of ball bearing’s fatigue are excessive temperature, fracture and normal deterioration due to improper use; these can be avoided by using authentic techniques and careful handling and usage of ball bearings.

Factors on which ball bearing’s life stands:
Many factors contribute to make your ball bearing’s life longer and last more, some are listed under and help observe ball bearing’s life:

• The alignment of ball bearing
• Rotation speed of the ball bearing
• The lubricant film density between the raceways and the rolling elements
• Water and contaminates free bearings

Wear:
If lubrication is substandard and disproportionate particles let in the ball bearings, wear may likely happen to occur. Wear can be caused due to the entrance of abrasive particles into the bearings, these can be diagnosed by grease discoloring into green and dull and worn surfaces around the races. Inadequate lubricant can also lead the bearings to wear out; by careful lubrication the bearing will start performing well. Vibration occurs in bearings when the metal comes in contact with metal if your bearing is not in use, in this case a thin film could not produce between raceways and rolling elements, this exposed ball bearings to wear out. Deep seated rust is another prominent cause of corrosion in ball bearings.

ABEC and ABMA standards:
Annular Bearing Engineering Committee of ABMA has established standards for bearings manufacturing. Approved by ANSI, these standards help the makers to produce an efficient bearing with a longer life for the life of any type of bearing is finite.