A spherical roller bearing is a rolling-element bearing that permits rotation with low friction, and permits angular misalignment. Typically these bearings support a rotating shaft in the bore of the inner ring that may be misaligned in respect to the outer ring. The misalignment is possible due to the spherical internal shape of the outer ring and spherical rollers.[1] Despite what their name may imply, spherical roller bearings are not truly spherical in shape. The rolling elements of spherical roller bearings are mainly cylindrical in shape, but have a (barrel like) profile that makes them appear like cylinders that have been slightly over-inflated [2] (i.e. like a barrel).

Spherical Roller Bearing

Self-aligning roller bearings can adapt to the severe environment and working condition, are mainly designed to bear very heavy radial loads and heavy axial loads, have extremely high impact load resistance, and can realize full-capacity load through self-aligning functions thereof in the case that an installation axes are misaligned.

In outer rings of the bearings, two rows of rollers have a common spherical raceway. Thus, they can be automatically aligned in a wide range of swing angles and can accept axis alignment errors within a certain range.

Spherical Roller Bearings

The bearings are generally designed in two columns. The outer rings of the two columns of rollers have a common spherical raceway. In the case that the accurate concentricity between a shaft and two shafts of a bearing seat is difficult to obtain, the structural design has very important practical significance.

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Split Roller Bearings

The bearings are particularly suitable for challenging applications that are difficult to install, disassemble, and maintain, and can be an ideal solution for reducing machine maintenance and maintenance downtime. They are usually installed in boxes that can contain different types of housings, constituting a complete unit.

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Spherical Roller Bearing Types

THB company, as a spherical roller bearing manufacturer in China, provides two types of spherical roller bearings: symmetrical spherical rollers and asymmetrical spherical rollers according to the cross-sectional shape of the rollers. Asymmetrical spherical roller bearings are early products, mainly for maintenance services of the machines. The internal structure has undergone a comprehensive improved design and parameter optimization. Compared with the earlier produced spherical roller bearings, it can withstand greater axial load. The operating temperature of this type of bearing is lower, and it can meet the requirements of higher speed. According to whether the inner ring has ribs and the type of the cage used, spherical roller bearings can be divided into two types: CC type and CA type. The characteristics of CC type bearings are that the inner ring has no ribs and it uses steel plated stamping cage. CA type bearing is characterized by ribs on both sides of the inner ring and the use of machined solid cage. In order to improve the lubrication of the bearing, a spherical roller bearing with an annular oil groove and three oil holes on the outer ring can be provided to the user, which is indicated by the bearing suffix code /W33. According to user requirements, spherical roller bearings with inner ring oil holes can also be supplied. In order to facilitate the installation and replacement of bearings by customers, spherical roller bearings with taper bore can also be provided. The taper bore's taper is 1:12, and the suffix code is K. In order to meet the requirements of special users, spherical roller bearings with an inner hole taper of 1:30 can also be provided, and the suffix code is K30. Bearings with a tapered bore can be directly mounted on the tapered journal with a lock nut, or can be mounted on the cylindrical journal with the aid of an adapter sleeve or a withdrawal sleeve. In order to ensure that the spherical roller bearing prevents harmful slippage between the raceway and the roller due to centrifugal action when the bearing is running at high speed, the bearing should bear a certain minimum radial load.

Spherical roller bearings are divided into: cylindrical bore and tapered bore. The taper of the tapered bore is 1:12 with the suffix code K for spherical roller bearings and 1:30 with the suffix code for K30 spherical roller bearings. When this type of bearing is matched with a conical shaft, the radial clearance of the bearing can be adjusted by moving the inner ring along the axial direction.

The installation of Spherical Roller Bearing

Spherical roller bearings are equipped with drum-shaped roller bearings between the inner ring with two raceways and the outer ring with spherical raceways. The curvature center of the outer ring raceway surface is consistent with the bearing center, so it has the same centering function as the self-aligning ball bearing. When the shaft and housing are deflected, the load and the axial load in two directions can be adjusted automatically. Large radial load capacity is suitable for heavy load and shock load. Spherical roller bearings whose inner diameter is a tapered bore can be directly installed. Or an adapter sleeve or withdrawal sleeve can be used to install it on the cylindrical shaft. The cage uses a steel stamping cage, a polyamide forming cage and a copper alloy car cage.

For self-aligning spherical roller bearings, the use of a middle mounting ring can prevent the outer ring from tilting and rotating when installing the bearing with the shaft into the box shaft hole. It should be remembered that some sizes of self-aligning ball bearings have balls protruding from the side of the bearing, so the middle mounting ring should be recessed to prevent damage to the balls. A large number of bearings are generally installed by mechanical or hydraulic press-in method.

For split roller bearings, the inner ring and the outer ring can be installed separately, which simplifies the installation process, especially when the inner and outer rings require interference fit. When installing the shaft with the inner ring in place into the bearing box that already contains the outer ring, care must be taken to check whether the inner and outer rings are correctly aligned to avoid scratching the bearing raceways and rolling parts. If cylindrical and needle roller bearings use inner rings without flanges or inner rings with flanges on one side, it is recommended to use mounting sleeves. The outer diameter of the sleeve should be equal to the inner ring raceway diameter F, and the tolerance standard for machining should be d10.