Available Bearings Bearing Selector Technical Info New Products

Bearing Radial Play Information || Dynaroll's Technical Overview of Bearings

BEARING RADIAL PLAY

BEARING RADIAL PLAY

Bearing Radial Play - Bearing Dynamics - Bearing Geometry. When a bearing is running under load, force is transmitted from one bearing raceway to the other through the balls. The contact area between a ball and the bearing raceway (contact ellipse) may be very small, so that even moderate loads can produce very large stresses. These stresses can affect bearing performance and life dramatically, so that it is important to consider the internal geometry of the bearing before making a selection for a given application.

BEARING RACEWAY CURVATURE


Bearing raceway curvature ratio (f) is the ratio of the raceway radius (R) to the ball diameter (Dw).


Inner raceway curvature ratio fi =  
Ri
Dw
where:



 Dw = ball diameter
Ri = inner raceway radius
Ro = outer raceway radius
Outer raceway curvature ratio fo =  
Ro
Dw

fi, fo values are typically 0.56 ± 0.03 for small bearings where low torque is a primary requirement. It is not necessarily the same for both inner and outer bearing raceways. Raceway curvature ratio is often referred to as a percentage f x 100%.

The total curvature of a bearing is defined as B = fi + fo - 1

RADIAL AND AXIAL PLAY

Bearings are assembled with a slight amount of looseness between the balls and the raceways. This allows the bearing to rotate smoothly but also affects the performance of the bearing in a given application. This looseness can be split into two components - radial and axial play.


BEARING RADIAL PLAY is the maximum displacement that one bearing ring can be displaced relative to the other ring in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the bearing.


       Radial play = ∆r
BEARING AXIAL PLAY, or end play, is the maximum relative displacement of the bearing rings, in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation.

       Axial play = ∆a
Bearing Radial Play and Bearing Axial Play are interdependent and are determined during the manufacture of the bearing. Typically, bearing radial play is a purchasing specification.