A thrust bearing is a particular type of
rotary bearing. Like other bearings, they permit rotation
between parts, but they are designed to support a predominantly
axial load.
Thrust Roller Bearings are of three 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.
Tapered Roller Thrust Bearings
These bearings consist of small tapered rollers arranged so
that their axes all converge at a point on the axis of the
bearing. The length of the roller and the diameter of the wide
and the narrow ends and the angle of rollers need to be
carefully calculated to provide the correct taper so that each
end of the roller rolls smoothly on the bearing face without
skidding. These are the type most commonly used in automotive
applications (to support the wheels of a motor car for example),
where they are used in pairs to accommodate axial thrust in
either direction, as well as radial loads. They can support
greater thrust loads than the ball type due to the larger
contact area but are more expensive to manufacture.
Spherical Roller Thrust Bearings
Spherical Roller Thrust Bearing is a self-aligning bearing.
In service, it allows a maximum shaft misalignment of about 2
degrees. The contact angle helps this type of bearing to handle
a small amount of radial load.
Lubrication of these bearings needs to be done carefully since
their large sliding contact area results in smearing. Care
should be taken to maintain at least rated minimum load on this
bearing, to avoid smearing.
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