Ceramic Ball Bearing

A ceramic ball bearing is a rotating support, just like a steel ball bearing, which is placed between moving parts in order to allow them to move easily. Ball bearings usually contain small metal balls. Ball bearings are commonly used for industrial and commercial purposes. Ball bearings are essential for the smooth movement of parts or whole pieces, and in absence of these components, various parts would have to be replaced constantly, because of the wearing caused by friction.

Ball bearings will usually consist of inner and outer rings, inner and outer raceways, balls and a ball cage. The balls follow the inner and outer raceways. The surface of the inner ring is where the inner raceway is located, and the surface of the outer ring is where the outer raceway is located. The raceways make available a smooth track and unhindered movement for the balls.

The mass of the ceramic balls is about 60% less than that of steel balls. When working at high rpm, the centrifugal motion significantly affects steel balls, as they are pushed to the outer race. The shape deforms from “round” to “egg shaped,” which leads to wear and the bearing will eventually fail. As ceramic ball bearings offer 50 percent greater rigidity and 50 percent less mass, a 30 percent increase in speed will have no significant effect on the life of the bearing.

Ceramic ball bearings have less vibration levels and lower operating temperatures as compared to steel balls. This is due to the nearly perfect roundness of ceramic balls, and greater smoothness, as a result of which friction is reduced by 70 percent. The hybrid ceramic ball bearings have higher rigidity and higher harmonic frequencies result in low vibrations. Ceramic balls do not react with steel raceways like steel casters. “Cold welding,” results from the steel-ball to steel-raceway interaction, which causes surface roughness, excessive heat and finally, bearing failure from wear. The ceramic balls in a hybrid ceramic ball bearings have no such reaction with the steel raceways, which can assure longer bearing life. Added advantage is that the equipment or machine can be used at the same speed with grease as a lubricant instead of oil. Whenever grease is used as lubricant with steel ball bearings, it is required to reduce the speed to attain the same bearing life compared to oil lubricant.

Among the newer generations of bearings, hybrids ceramic ball bearings offer distinct advantages over all-steel counterparts. These types of bearings mix bearing-grade silicon nitride (ceramic) rolling elements with steel rings that exhibit significant advantages compared to older all-steel bearings.

Ceramic ball bearings can be used at higher speeds and lower operating temperatures; are lighter, harder, and more durable and prove highly resistant to wear. The relatively increased hardness results in improved wear resistance against hard particles, and vibration, and their highly rigid nature increases the bearing strength and reduce the deflection under the load, and hence results in reliable performance.

Hybrid bearings have natural insulating properties, which are particularly beneficial in applications that involve variable speeds in motors and generators, where problems due to electric arcing may arise, and resulting bearing damage may take place from the occasional shaft currents. Hybrid bearings are a feasible alternative for insulating from the inside.