Page 23 - Rollingbearings

Why rolling bearings?
Radial and thrust
bearings

Rolling bearings are classiied into two
groups based on the direction of the load
they predominantly accommodate:

• Radial bearings
Radial bearings accommodate loads that
are predominantly perpendicular to the
shaft. Some radial bearings can support
only pure radial loads, while most can Bearing basics
additionally accommodate some axial
loads in one direction and, in some cases,
both directions (ig. 4).
A.1
• Thrust bearings
Thrust bearings accommodate loads that
act predominantly along the axis of the
shaft. Depending on their design, thrust
bearings may support pure axial loads in
one or both directions (ig. 5), and some
can additionally accommodate radial loads
(combined loads, ig. 6). Thrust bearings
cannot accommodate speeds as high as Fig. 4
same-sized radial bearings. Radial bearings

The contact angle (ig. 7) determines which
Radial load
group the bearing belongs to. Bearings with
a contact angle ≤ 45° are radial bearings, the
others are thrust bearings.

Axial load

Radial bearing accommodating Radial bearing accommodating
radial load only radial and axial load

Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7
Thrust bearing for pure axial load Thrust bearing for combined load Contact angle

α

21