Almost all applications involving rotational motion, such as automotive hubs, dental drills, machine tool spindles, suspension bridges, motors, pumps, etc., require ball bearings, including ball bearings, roller bearings, sliding bearings, or needle roller bearings.

Ball bearings use balls to separate the bearing race, allowing the balls to move smoothly and have low friction during rotation. Ball bearings come in hundreds of sizes, ranging from ultra small 1.50mm diameter micro medical equipment and micro motor bearings to heavy-duty equipment bearings with diameters exceeding 15 feet.

Ball bearings consist of two balls (or races) and a ball that maintains ball separation (depending on the type). There may also be other components, such as seals and protective covers, but this article will focus on the main bearing components of rings, spheres, and cages.

Raw materials.

Most bearings are made of chromium steel, but many materials are used to maximize the performance and lifespan of bearings.

production process

The manufacturing process of the inner and outer rings of ball bearings is almost identical.

At the beginning of the ring, it is a pipe blank. Automatic machines like lathes, such as screw machines, use cutting tools to cut rings into basic shapes, leaving behind excess material.

The next step in environmental processing is strengthening. Heat the ring to 1565 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes, quench with 375 degrees Fahrenheit oil for 15-20 minutes, and then temper at 340 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours.

The next step in processing the inner and outer rings is to use a dedicated grinder to grind them to the final size.

Terminal grinding to obtain appropriate bearing width.

Outer ring outer processing, inner ring inner processing.

Obtain appropriate radius, roller position, and geometric shape through roller grinding.

The final processing step is to grind the raceway to obtain appropriate surface finish and geometric shape.

Some bearings may require additional steps. For example, additional end face grinding may be required for diagonal contact bearings to ensure that the inner and outer ring widths are the same when the shaft is subjected to thrust loads. Although the starting width of the inner and outer rings is exactly the same, there are many factors that can cause them to be misaligned during bearing assembly and under load, such as changes in the radius, position, geometry, and ball diameter of the race.

Like bearing rings, bearing balls are also manufactured through a multi-step process.

A ball is composed of a metal wire or a rod-shaped block of material, which contains the materials needed to complete the ball.

Then, the clumps are cooled and cooled to form a nearly clean spherical shape.

Then smash or flip the ball to remove burrs and burrs.

Using soft grinding method to produce uniformly sized spheres.

Strengthen the ball bearings using a method similar to that of a ball bearing ring.

The hardened sphere is finely ground to meet the finished product size and roundness specifications.

Finally, the grinding ball must meet the requirements of final tolerance and surface smoothness.

According to different materials and sizes, bearing cages are manufactured using various processes. The production process includes stamping, molding, forging, and mechanical processing.