Fundamentals of

Bearings and Seals

Fundamentals of Bearings & Seals

Course Objectives
To gain a understanding of the following :
Safety when working with Bearings
Introductory
Reasons for Bearings
Types of Bearings
Fitting Bearings
Bearing Seals and Shields
How to Measure a Bearing
Bearing Lubrication
Bearing Lubricants
Bearing Analysis
Conclusions

Bearing Safety
1. Is the Machine Isolated so it can not be started
or moved while being worked on ?
2. Wear the correct PPE for the job.
Safety glasss, Toe cap Boots and overalls as a
Minimum.
3. Is the risk assessment in place ? Have you read
through it and checked its correct ?
4.

Do any permits need signing ?

5. Watch for sharp edges on worn machine

components.
6. Do not wear loose or bulky clothing as this can get
caught in moving machinery.
7. If in doubt about anything stop and ask your
supervisor.

Introductory
To appreciate the principle underlying the
action
of a ball or roller bearing , you have to think of
a
heavy object having a flat lower surface
resting on a
flat surface e.g. the floor or a table.
If you attempt to push or drag this object
across the
floor a fare amount of effort would be required.
This effort will be less if the floor is greased or
oiled .
If however metal rollers are placed under the
object
as in the diagram the force required to push
the object
is considerably less. By lubricating the rollers a
still smaller

Reasons for
Bearings

Abearingis amachine
elementthat constrains relative
motion to only the desired motion,
and reduces friction
betweenmoving parts. The design
of the bearing may, for example,
provide for freelinearmovement of
the moving part or for freerotation
around a fixed axis; or, it
maypreventa motion by controlling
thevectorsofnormal forcesthat bear
on the moving parts. Many bearings
alsofacilitatethe desired motion as
much as possible, such as by
minimizing friction. Bearings are
classified broadly according to the type
of operation, the motions allowed, or
to the directions of the loads (forces)

Types of Bearings
There are many types of bearings, each
used for different purposes. These
include ball bearings, roller bearings,
ball thrust bearings, roller thrust
bearings and tapered roller thrust
Ball
Bearings
bearings.
Ball bearings, are probably the most
common type of bearing. They are found
in everything from inline skates tohard
drives. These bearings can handle
both radial and thrust loads, and are
usually found in applications where
the load is relatively small.
In a ball bearing, the load is transmitted
from the outer race to the ball, and from
the ball to the inner race. Since the ball is
asphere, it only contacts the inner and
outer race at a very small point, which
helps it spin very smoothly. But it also
means that there is not very much

Types of Bearings
Roller Bearings
Roller bearingslike the one
illustrated below are used in
applications like conveyer belt
rollers, where they must hold heavy
radial loads. In these bearings, the
roller is acylinder, so the contact
between the inner and outer race is not
a point but a line. This spreads the load
out over a larger area, allowing the
bearing to handle much greater loads
than a ball bearing. However, this type
of bearing is not designed to handle
much thrust loading.
A variation of this type of bearing, called
aneedle Roller bearing, this uses
cylinders with a very small diameter.

Types of Bearings
Ball Thrust Bearing

Ball thrust bearingslike the one shown

right are mostly used for low-speed
applications and cannot handle much
radial load. Barstools and Lazy Susan
turntables use this type of bearing.

Roller Thrust Bearing

Roller thrust bearingslike the one

illustrated below can support large
thrust loads. They are often found in gear
sets likecar transmissionsbetweengears,
and between the housing and the rotating
shafts. Thehelical gearsused in most
transmissions have angled teeth -- this
causes a thrust load that must be supported
by a bearing.

Tapered Roller Bearings

Types

of Bearings

Tapered roller bearingscan

support large radial and large
thrust loads.
Tapered roller bearings are used in car
hubs, where they are usually mounted
in pairs facing opposite directions so
that they can handle thrust in both
directions.
Tapered roller bearingsconsist of four
interdependent components: the cone,
or inner ring; the cup, or outer ring; the
tapered rollers, or rolling elements; and
the cage, or roller retainer. The taper
angles allow the bearing to handle a
combination of radial and thrust loads.
The steeper the cup angle, the greater
the ability of the tapered roller bearing
to handle thrust loads.
Tapered roller bearings come in single
row , double row and four row
configurations.

Types of Bearings
Plain Bearings
Plain bearings are the simplest type of
bearing and are composed of just the
bearing surface with no rolling
elements. They have a high loadcarrying capacity, are generally the least
expensive and, depending on the materials,
have much longer lives than other types.
A plain bearing floats
on a film of oil to keep
the bearing and shaft
apart
to allow movement
with less friction.

Fitting Bearings
Fitting Plain Bearings
Plain bearings are often blued
and
scraped in using bearing
scrapers.
The engineers blue is applied to
the bearing and then the
bearing is placed onto the shaft
it is carrying.
The two parts are placed
together
and the shaft rotated. Once this
is done the shaft is removed
and blue high spots can be
seen on the bearing surface.
These are carefully scraped
away using bearing scrapers
until the high spots are
removed and roughly a 80%
coverage of blue is achieved.

Fitting Bearings
Fitting Ball or Roller
Bearings

A induction heater is used when the bearing

needs to fit onto a shaft with a slight
interference fit.
The heater will warm the bearing up to around
115 deg. C. so it expands and will fit over the
shaft. Put the temperature probe onto the inner
race of the bearing so you know what
temperature the inner race is at as this
is the part that has to fit over the shaft.
To hot a temperature will damage the
bearing.
Cleanliness must be adhered to at all
times when fitting bearings.

Seals and Shields

Bearing Seals and

Shields

To help retain bearing lubrication and prevent

contamination from the environment a seal (contact) or
shield (non-contact) can be employed.
Often no seal (Open) is required when the bearing will be
housed
externally
or when
in a
Z Typeand
Shield
Thelubricated
Z type shield
isoperated
a
vacuum
metal shield. There is no contact so
obtainable speeds and torque are not
effected as in a contact type seal.
Lubricant leakage can occur and
contamination can enter through this gap.
They have fair dust resistance and poor water
resistance. Shields are good to around
350 F.
RS Type Seal The RS type seal is a
rubber seal that makes contact with the
inner race. Most commonly made of Bunarubber. They offer the best sealing
against contamination and lubricant

Bearing Seals and

Seals and Shields Continued Shields
V Type Seal The V type seal is a
non-contact type rubber seal that does
not contact the inner race, but rides in
groove machined in the inner races
creating a labyrinth effect. Its
performance falls between a metal shield and
contact type rubber seal. Most commonly
made of Buna-rubber. They are removable.
They offer the good sealing against
contamination and lubricant leakage.
Generally the speed rating is not reduced and
is comparable to that of the Z type or open.
Temperature range is 15 F to 220 F.
T Type Seal The T type seal is made of
glass reinforced Teflon. The level of contact
(sealing) can be adjusted to meet application
requirements all the way from non-contact to
heavy contact. Their best characteristic would

How to measure a
Bearing
Sometimes you may need to identify a
bearing due to general wear and tear. Most
bearing references now are laser stamped but
these wear and rub off more quickly than the
previous method, which was engraved deep
in the bearing's metal.
Each bearing has an inside diameter, outside
diameter and width diameter in that order.
Most bearings are metric in size, but can also
be imperial.
d = Inside diameter
D = Outside diameter
B/T = Width diameter
Once you have identified the bearing's code
some bearings come complete with seals or
shields. This is known as the suffix in the
bearings reference.

How to measure a
Bearing

Bearing Example
6205 2RS1C3
The bearing type design that you need is a
single row deep groove ball bearing with the
following dimensions and suffix.
d = 25mm
D = 52mm
B/T = 15mm
Result = 6205
The bearing also has a seal either side of the
bearing.
2RS1 = 2 Rubber seals
2RSR = 2 Rubber seals
DDU = 2 Rubber seals
2Z = 2 Metal shields
ZZ = 2 Metal Shields
Result = 6205 2RS1

How to measure a
Bearing
And the internal clearance being C3 means that the bearing
has room for expansion if needed between the races of the
bearing, whilst holding the outer ring and moving the inner
ring in a radial movement you will detect a little amount of
play between the 2 rings. All standard clearance bearings
have this movement, it may only be a small amount of
movement but is controlled by international standards. C3
means the bearing has more clearance than standard.
For example we may use C3 clearance on bearings where a
cold start up application my cause the balls to heat up
quickly, the heat needs to go somewhere. Some of the heat
gets passed through the outer race to the housing and the
inner race to the shaft, this causes expansion which closes
up the clearance in the bearing. If you did not allow for this
clearance the bearing would not have room for expansion
and lead to bearing failure.
C2 = Clearance less than normal
C3 = Clearance greater than normal

Bearing Lubrication
Methods of Lubrication.There are
numerous ways to supply lubricant to
bearings.

Pressure lubrication, in which an

abundance of oil is fed to the bearing from a
central groove, single or multiple holes, or
axial grooves, is effective and efficient. The
moving oil assists in flushing dirt from the
bearing and helps keep the bearing cool. In
fact, it removes heat faster than other
lubricating methods and, therefore, permits
thinner oil films and unimpaired load
capacities. The oil-supply pressure needed for
bushings carrying the basic load is directly
proportional to the shaft speed, but for most
installations, 50 psi will be adequate.

Bearing Lubrication
Splash fed applies to a variety of
intermittently lubricated bushings. It includes
everything from bearings spattered with oil
from the action of other moving parts to
bearings regularly dipped in oil. Like oil bath
lubrication, splash feeding is practical when
the housing can be made oil tight and when
the moving parts do not churn the oil.

Oil bathlubrication, in which the

bushing is submerged in oil, is the most
reliable of allmethods except
pressurelubrication. It is practical if the
housing can be made oil tight, andif the shaft
speed is not so great as to cause excessive
churning of the oil.

Bearing Lubrication
Oil ringlubrication, in which oil is
supplied to the bearing by a ring in contact
with theshaft, will, within reasonable limits,
bring enough oil to the bearing to maintain
hydrodynamiclubrication. If the shaft speed
is too low, little oil will follow the ring to the
bearing;and, if the speed is too high, the ring
speed will not keep pace with the shaft.

Wick or waste
packlubricationdelivers oil to a bushing
by the capillary action of a wickor waste
pack; the amount delivered is proportional to
the size of the wick or pack.

Bearing Lubricants
Lubricants:The value of an oil as a lubricant
depends mainly on its film-forming capacity,that is, its
capability to maintain a film of oil between the bearing
surfaces. The film formingcapacity depends to a large
extent on the viscosity of the oil, but this should not
beunderstood to mean that oil of the highest viscosity is
always the most suitable lubricant.For practical
reasons, an oil of the lowest viscosity that will
retain an unbroken oil filmbetween the bearing
surfaces is the most suitable for purposes of
lubrication. A higher viscositythan that necessary to
maintain the oil film results in a waste of power due to
theexpenditure of energy necessary to overcome the
internal friction of the oil itself.
Greasepacked in a cavity surrounding the bushing is
less adequate than an oil system,but it has the
advantage of being more or less permanent. Although

Lubricant Selection.

Bearing Lubricants

In
selectinglubricantsfor
journal
bearing
operation,several factorsmust be considered: 1. Type of
operation. (Full , Mixed or Boundary Film)
2.Surface Speed.
3.Bearing Loading.
As
a
general
rule-of-thumb,
heavier
oils
are
recommended for high loads and lighter oilsfor high
speeds.In addition, other than using conventional
lubricationoils, journal bearings may be lubricatedwith
greases.
Some
of
the
reasons
for
use
of
theselubricantsare to:
1) Lengthen the period between re-lubrication:
2) Avoid contaminating surrounding equipment or
material with leaking lubricatingoil;
3) Provide effectivelubricationunder extreme
temperature ranges;
4) Provide effectivelubricationin the presence of
contaminating atmospheres; and

Bearing Lubricants
Greases:Where full-filmlubricationis not possible
or is impractical for slow-speed fairly high-load
applications,
greases
are
widely
used
as
bearinglubricants. Although full filmlubricationwith
grease is possible, it is not normally considered since
an elaboratepumping system is required to
continuously supply a prescribed amount of grease
to thebearing. Bearings supplied with grease are
usually
lubricated
periodically.
Grease
lubrication,therefore, implies that the bearing
will operate under conditions of complete
boundarylubricationand should be designed
accordingly.
Lubricating greases are essentially a combination of
a mineral lubricating oil and a thickeningagent,
which is usually a metallic soap. When suitably
mixed, they make excellentbearing lubricants. There
are many different types of greases which, in

Bearing Analysis
Many bearings fail prematurely in
service because of contamination, poor
lubrication, temperature extremes, poor
fitting/fits, unbalance and misalignment.
All these factors lead to an increase in
bearing vibration and condition
monitoring has been used for many
years to detect degrading bearings
before they catastrophically fail (with
the associated costs of downtime or
significant damage to other parts of the
machine).
Vibration monitoring has now become a
well accepted part of many planned
maintenance regimes and relies on the
well known characteristic vibration
signatures which rolling bearings exhibit
as the rolling surfaces degrade.

Bearing Analysis

Conclusions
Weve looked at various bearing types , there seals
and different methods of lubrication.
Bearings are important for any rotating part and
enable low friction movement between the moving
parts.
There are innumerable varieties of bearings
available for various different applications and with
correct fitment , lubrication and maintenance
should have a good and reliable service life.