ceramicbearings.org

Ceramic bearings are bearings whose inner parts are made of a ferrous material while the outer part is a ring or a race made of ceramic balls in place of steel. The ferrous material is an inorganic Silicone Nitride. There are several advantages of ceramic bearings above other bearings made of steel some. Example of these advantages include, higher speed and acceleration capability which they offer to moving parts, they are more stiff than those bearings made of steel and they offer almost frictionless surface to the moving parts. There is more to it. They are also non-conducting to electricity hence reducing wearing out caused by heat developed through charge accumulation.

Many types of ceramic bearings exist. These include angular, thrust, pillow block and roller ceramic bearings.

Rotating parts of a moving bearing normally experience electric charging. This charging results in a washboard of fluting patens on raceways and darkening of a steel bearing surfaces. This leads to excessive noise and unwanted worn-out leading to quick replacements. Since ceramic bearings are poor conductors of electricity, this damage and ultimate premature aging is reduced hence making it more efficient for majority of users.

Bearings made of ceramics also carry with them the advantage of being hard and able to withstand adhesive wear and tear as is the case with steal bearings. The surface roughness is reduced with no removal of any materials by the hard ceramic balls. This leads to reduced noise and more life span and hence serving the user more and reducing supposed cost of replacements. Although the initial cost of ceramic ball bearing is high, their maintenance is relatively cheap.

Ceramic bearings are also light hence exerting less force against the out race grove during rotation hence reducing friction. This heat would otherwise bring about thermal melting if material like steel would. These bearings find application in several manufacturing industry and in home equipments.  They are used in process technology, aerospace industry, machine tool industry

Different materials offer different functions to material world as well as the advantages. Steel is a main kind of material which is common for the production of bearings. Other types of bearing exist but do not match ceramic bearings. Although steel is a good material and is most common, there are some environments where steel material is less or totally unsuitable. Environment always influences the usefulness of a material.

Ceramic bearings offer a wide range of advantages over steel. They are highly resistant to corrosion as well as heat. They offer high stability in terms of dimension and are less dense hence able to offer high rotation speed. Together with being less dense, they are also very hard.

Silicon Nitride which makes up ceramic bearings is an agent against corrosion. Its corrosive resistance can be increased by using carbide ceramic bearing. Since the melting point of these bearings is high, they withstand high temperatures hence suitable for use at environments.  Furthermore, ceramic bearings work with very minimal lubrications hence is more cost effective.