Thrust Ball Bearings
Overview
Thrust ball bearings are designed to take axial (thrust) loads at high speeds, but they cannot handle any radial loads. These bearings feature bearing washers with raceway grooves in which the balls move.
Thrust ball bearings are classified into “flat seat” and “aligning seat” types, based on the shape of the housing washer (outer ring seat), and as single-direction or double-direction. Spherical and aligning seat washers help to provide tolerance for mounting errors.
Product List
Single-direction thrust ball bearings are comprised of two bearing washers (a shaft washer and a housing washer) and a single cage containing the balls. They can sustain axial loads in one direction.
Features
- Specialized design
A cage contains the balls while the grooved aligning seat washer guides them. - Dedicated components
Washers attached to the shaft are called “shaft washers” and those attached to the housing are called “housing washers” (fixed rings). - Support axial loads
Single-direction thrust ball bearings can take axial loads in one direction.
Applications
- Printer peripheral equipment, ball screw support sections of precision positioning stages, automatic guided vehicles (AGVs), radial drilling machines, fishing reels
Single-direction thrust ball bearings are comprised of two bearing washers (a shaft washer and a housing washer) and a single cage containing the balls. They can sustain axial loads in one direction.
Features
- Specialized design
A cage contains the balls while the grooved aligning seat washer guides them. - Dedicated components
Washers attached to the shaft are called “shaft washers” and those attached to the housing are called “housing washers” (fixed rings). - Support axial loads
Single-direction thrust ball bearings can take axial loads in one direction.
Applications
- Printer peripheral equipment, ball screw support sections of precision positioning stages, automatic guided vehicles (AGVs), radial drilling machines, fishing reels
FAQs
Loads are defined by their direction. Loads perpendicular to the shaft are called radial loads and loads parallel to the shaft are called axial (thrust) loads.
While DGBBs can handle axial loads in both directions, single-row angular contact ball bearings can only receive axial load in one direction.
Seals and shields offer additional protection for bearing components and help to improve and maintain lubrication. In terms of sealing performance, sealed bearings rank best, followed by shielded bearings, then finally open bearings. NMT uses supplementary designations D, DU, DW, and V (DD, DDU, DDW, VV) for sealed bearings and Z (ZZ) for shielded bearings. No supplementary designations are listed for open bearings.
