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Special Environment Bearings
Surrounding conditions such as humidity corrosive fumes, thermal, vibration, radiation , electrical discharge and many others can detract from optimal performance. The use of improved seals ,choice of lubricant may permit adequate bearing life to be achieved in harsh conditions.
Cronidur® 30
Cronidur® 30 is a pressure-nitrided, martensitic cold working steel. if offers outstanding durability as well as hardness levels up to 60 hrc. use of the Pesr (Pressure electro slag remelting) process in combination with sophisticated forging and rolling technology imparts extremely good cleanliness and a fine, homogeneous structure. This results in excellent machinability, outstanding polishability, and high dimensional stability after heat treatment. The use of nitrogen as a partial substitute for carbon leads to far better resistance to corrosion and wear than the conventional method of producing cold working steels. Furthermore, Cronidur® 30 possesses a tempering resistance as high as 500°C. through this outstanding mix of properties it has established itself as a material for spindle, miniature and standard ball bearings in medical, aerospace, mechanical engineering and numerous corrosive environments applications.
Ceramic Hybrid Bearings
Ceramic hybrid bearings consist of ceramic balls and steel inner and outer rings. Ceramic balls require less lubrication are lower friction, non corrosive, non conductive, have longer life are higher speed, greater stiffness and higher accuracy. Hybrid ceramic bearings can be effective in environments where normal lubrication is not possible. An example is space satellites.
M50 Steel (AMS6491)
M50 is a premium quality high temperature steel with a Rockwell Hardness of 60-64 HRC. M50 has an operating limit of 975 F with excellent fatigue properties and high thermal stability. M50 is used in high temperature applications.
This is a custom order material commonly used in aerospace applications.
Ceramic Bearings
Ceramic bearings offer many advantages over steel bearings such as higher speed, increased stiffness and lower friction. Ceramic balls are non-conductive and available in radial, angular, thrust, pillow block, needle and roller bearings. Ceramics are electrically insulating, which can prevent ‘arcing’ failures if current should be passed through the bearing.
Bearing rings and balls made of Silicone Nitrite are used in highly corrosive environments. Fully ceramic bearings can be manufactured with fluorocarbon resin cages or full complement designs.
Ceramic bearings balls are typically made from (Si3N4) ceramic silicon nitride and have greater hardness than steel balls resulting in longer ball life. Ceramic bearing balls have smoother surface finishes than most steel bearing balls. Thermal properties are also better steel balls which result in less heat generation due to friction at high speeds. To manufacture a extra fine surface finish on ceramic balls, the balls are elevated with a magnetic field and then polished with plasma stream. Ceramic bearings balls are rated at higher spin rates than steel bearing balls.
Ceramic bearing balls can weigh up to 40% less than steel ones, depending on size and material. This reduces centrifugal loading and skidding, so hybrid ceramic bearings can operate 20% to 40% faster than conventional bearings. This means that the outer race groove exerts less force inward against the ball as the bearing spins. This reduction in force reduces the friction and rolling resistance. The lighter balls allow the bearing to spin faster, and uses less energy to maintain its speed.
Ceramic bearing balls require less lubricant and exhibit less lubrication degradation, which results in increased bearing life. Ceramic bearings manufactured from Si3N4 can operate at temperatures up to 1600F. Ceramics also are resistant to oxidation.
Applications include semiconductors, LCDs, synthetic fiber and can manufacturing equipment. Other applications include ultra sound motors, electric motors, performance racing vehicles, underwater applications, fishing reels, dental handpiece turbines. Many high speed electric motors requiring voltage isolation use ceramic material bearings.