New bearing technology helps boost pump and compressor output

04 February, 2019

At high speeds, the centrifugal forces within the bearing assembly can cause contact angle variations as the ball contact points between the inner and outer rings changes, causing the balls and rings to slide relative to one another. For applications with moderate axial loading, the new 25° contact angle reduces this effect, enabling the bearing to operate at higher speeds without risk of cage fracture.

The new raceway geometry also significantly minimises the risk of a phenomenon known as ‘ellipse truncation’ which can impose severe stress peaks during abnormal running conditions such as shock loading. Single row angular contact ball bearings with the new raceway geometry can accommodate axial forces as much as three times higher without ellipse truncation, compared to bearings with more conventional raceway designs.

Thanks to the optimised ball-to-cage contact geometry the temperature behaviour of this bearing at high speeds is more stable and the lubricant film formation is improved. Furthermore, noise and vibration levels are reduced by 15% and the limiting speed for the newly developed brass cage has increased by approximately 30% over that of previous designs.

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