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Have you ever wondered what makes certain bearings capable of handling complex loads and high speeds? Enter the angular contact ball bearing! This essential component, featuring inner and outer rings with rolling balls, is designed to support rotational shafts. What sets it apart is the unique angular contact point between the balls and the raceways. This clever design allows angular contact ball bearings to handle both radial and axial loads simultaneously, making them ideal for high-speed operations.
These versatile bearings are found in a wide array of applications, including:
Metallurgical equipment
Mining and construction machinery
Paper-making machinery
Wind turbines
Semiconductors
Machine tools
Gearboxes and electric motors
Pumps and compressors
Injection molding machines
Motorcycles, and more!
Angular contact ball bearings come in several configurations, each designed for specific load requirements and applications.
These bearings have a defined contact angle, making them perfect for handling axial loads in one direction or combined loads. Because they generate an axial force when subjected to radial loads, they are often used in pairs or multiple sets for counteraction.
Single row angular contact ball bearings can also be preloaded to enhance their rigidity, which is why they're a top choice for applications demanding high rotational precision, such as machine tool spindles.
When two single angular contact ball bearings are combined into a set, they form a paired angular contact ball bearing. These sets are typically made from identical angular contact ball bearings.
Paired angular contact ball bearings are categorized into three main configurations:
Back-to-Back (DB Configuration):
These can handle radial loads and axial loads in both directions.
With a large effective span between their pressure centers, they're excellent for applications with high moment loads.
Face-to-Face (DF Configuration):
Like back-to-back, these can also handle radial loads and axial loads in both directions.
However, their effective span is smaller compared to back-to-back configurations, resulting in less capacity for moment loads.
Tandem (DT Configuration):
These bearings can handle radial loads and axial loads in a single direction.
They are designed to share the axial load, making them suitable for situations where there are heavy loads in one specific axial direction.
Imagine two single-row angular contact ball bearings joined back-to-back, with their inner and outer rings integrated into a single unit. That's a double row angular contact ball bearing! This design allows them to carry axial loads in both directions and handle moment loads effectively. They're often used as fixed-end bearings due to their bi-directional thrust capacity. These types typically use pressed steel cages.
A four-point contact ball bearing is a unique type of single-row angular contact ball bearing where the inner ring is split into two halves. This innovative design allows a single bearing to handle axial loads in both directions.
With a contact angle of 35°, they offer high axial load capacity, making them ideal for pure axial loads or combined loads with a significant axial component. Interestingly, they can often be interchanged with face-to-face or back-to-back angular contact ball bearings. These bearings typically feature machined brass cages.
Beyond their structural variations, angular contact ball bearings boast several features that contribute to their superior performance:
Premium Steel: Made from ultra-clean steel, these bearings can offer up to an 80% longer service life.
Advanced Lubrication: Engineered with precision lubrication grease, they promise extended life and enhanced performance.
High-Grade Balls: Expect quiet and smooth operation, even at high speeds, thanks to their high-quality ball elements.
Superior Raceways: Specially honed raceways are designed to reduce noise generation, improve lubricant distribution, and extend bearing life.
Variable Contact Angles: Available with contact angles of 15°, 25°, 30°, and 40°, allowing for optimization based on specific application needs.
Patented Seals: Some designs incorporate patented seals that offer excellent resistance to contamination in harsh environments.
Cage Options: You'll find a range of cage materials, including nylon, steel, and brass, to suit different operational requirements.
Quality Assurance: Many undergo 100% testing to guarantee overall product quality.
Proper installation is critical for the longevity and performance of any bearing, and angular contact ball bearings are no exception.
Preparation is Key: Before installation, clean the bearing thoroughly with gasoline or kerosene, then dry it and lubricate it. While oil lubrication is an option, grease lubrication is common. If using grease, ensure it's high-quality, free from impurities, and has excellent anti-oxidation, rust-proof, and extreme pressure properties. Fill the bearing and housing with grease to 30-60% of their volume – don't overfill! Bearings with seals and water pump shaft bearings come pre-lubricated, so you can use them directly without cleaning.
Apply Even Pressure: When installing, always apply even pressure around the circumference of the ring's end face. Never use a hammer or similar tools to directly strike the bearing's end face, as this can easily cause damage. You wouldn't want to damage your new bearing, would you?
Methods for Pressing In:
For smaller interference fits, you can use a sleeve pressed against the bearing ring's end face and gently tap the sleeve with a hammer at room temperature. For large-scale installations, a hydraulic press is ideal. Always ensure that the outer ring's end face is tightly pressed against the housing shoulder, and the inner ring's end face against the shaft shoulder, with no gaps allowed.
For larger interference fits, consider using oil bath heating or induction heating to install the bearing. Heat the bearing to 80℃-100℃, but never exceed 120℃. Immediately after heating, secure the bearing with a nut or other appropriate method to prevent the inner ring from contracting and creating a gap with the shaft shoulder as it cools.
Adjusting Clearance: After installation, it's essential to adjust the bearing clearance. The optimal clearance value depends on the specific operating conditions and the interference fit. If necessary, conduct tests to determine the precise value.
Regular maintenance is crucial to maximize the lifespan and performance of your angular contact ball bearings.
Scheduled Maintenance: When the bearing has run for a certain period (or at the scheduled maintenance interval), remove all bearings for maintenance and overhaul.
Thorough Cleaning: Soak and clean the bearings using diesel or kerosene. If possible, open any sealed covers for a more thorough cleaning.
Inspect After Cleaning: After cleaning, ensure no cleaning oil remains and visually check for any signs of damage.
Listen for Noise: Use a wooden stick (preferably a hollow tube) about 150mm long with a diameter equal to the bearing's inner diameter. Secure one end of the bearing to the stick. Quickly rotate the bearing by hand while placing the other end of the stick against your ear or an audio amplifier microphone to listen for rotation noise. Excessive noise can indicate issues.
Check for Looseness: With the bearing fixed, gently push the wooden stick horizontally to check for any looseness or wear in the bearing.
Replace When Necessary: If the bearing shows severe looseness, excessive rotational noise, or significant defects, it's crucial to replace it immediately with the same model. Don't take chances; relying on a faulty bearing can lead to costly failures!
Re-lubrication: Take a bucket and gently melt an appropriate amount of high-quality yellow grease over low heat (do not overheat!). Immerse the inspected bearings into the melted grease until no more air bubbles escape. Once the grease has cooled, remove the angular contact ball bearings.
Final Assembly: Wipe off any excess grease from the outside of the bearing with a soft cloth or tissue paper. Then, reassemble the angular contact ball bearing onto the pulley as it was originally installed. Your maintenance is now complete!
While both angular contact ball bearings and deep groove ball bearings are common, they have distinct characteristics that make them suitable for different applications.
Deep Groove Ball Bearings: Primarily designed to handle radial loads, they can also simultaneously bear radial and axial loads. If a deep groove ball bearing has a larger radial clearance, it can behave like an angular contact bearing and withstand greater axial loads. They are known for their very low friction coefficient and high limiting speed.
Angular Contact Ball Bearings:
Single-row bearings handle radial loads and unidirectional axial loads.
DB (back-to-back), DF (face-to-face) combinations, and double-row angular contact ball bearings can handle both radial and bi-directional axial loads.
DT (tandem) combinations are ideal when a large unidirectional axial load is present, and a single bearing's rated load is insufficient.
ACH type bearings for high speeds, with smaller ball diameters and more balls, are often used in machine tool spindles.
Deep Groove Ball Bearings: When only subjected to radial loads, their contact angle is 0°.
Angular Contact Ball Bearings: How do you differentiate angular contact ball bearings by angle? Standard contact angles are 15°, 25°, and 40°. A larger contact angle means greater axial load capacity, while a smaller contact angle is more beneficial for high-speed rotation. Angular contact ball bearings are well-suited for high-speed, high-precision rotational applications.
Deep Groove Ball Bearings: The inner and outer diameters and width dimensions are similar to angular contact ball bearings. Their outer ring raceways have double shoulders on both sides and a curvature smaller than angular contact ball bearings, positioned off-center.
Angular Contact Ball Bearings: The inner ring dimensions and structure are similar to deep groove ball bearings. However, the outer ring raceway typically has a single shoulder, and its specific position is carefully considered during design, depending on the contact angle.
Deep Groove Ball Bearings: Best suited for handling radial forces, smaller axial forces, combined radial-axial loads, and moment loads.
Angular Contact Ball Bearings: Can handle single radial loads and larger axial loads (which vary with the contact angle). When paired (depending on the pairing method), they can withstand bi-directional axial loads and moment loads. Their limiting speed is generally higher than that of deep groove ball bearings of the same size.
Deep Groove Ball Bearings: Widely used in gearboxes, instruments, electric motors, home appliances, internal combustion engines, vehicles, agricultural machinery, construction machinery, roller skates, yoyos, and more.
Single-Row Angular Contact Ball Bearings: Found in machine tool spindles, high-frequency motors, gas turbines, centrifugal separators, small car front wheels, differential pinion shafts, booster pumps, drilling platforms, food machinery, indexing heads,
Double-Row Angular Contact Ball Bearings: Utilized in oil pumps, Roots blowers, air compressors, various transmissions, fuel injection pumps, printing machinery, planetary reducers, extraction equipment, cycloidal reducers, food packaging machinery,
Are you surprised by how diverse the applications for angular contact ball bearings are?
TFL Bearing provides high-quality bearings and professional services. Please contact us if you need!
