Why Is a Needle Thrust Bearing the Best Choice for Compact Solutions?

Needle Thrust Bearing

There are only a few mechanical components that have gained a lot significance owing to their inherent features and bearings are one among them. They are indispensable for the rotational movement of any equipment or machine under any conditions. The technological developments have only increased their usage in applications, including the most sophisticated and sensitive ones. A needle thrust bearing is such a variant offering compact solutions while accommodating heavy loads at varying speeds.

The bearing carries high significance owing to numerous needle rollers and therefore, it comes with a form-stable cage to guide and retain the rollers. The needle roller thrust bearings offer high degree of stiffness in the given minimal axial space. They are distinctively crafted with one-half outer diameter and shaft and bearing housing to give adequate surface roughness, specific accuracy and necessary hardness. The cage assembly and needle rolling elements, without any ring raceways make the bearing suitable for compact solutions.

Some Design Variants of a Needle Thrust Bearing

You can majorly find two types of needle thrust bearings and they are:

Needle rolling elements, with cage thrust assemblies: This design variant of the bearing is generally suitable for 4 ≤ d ≤ 160 mm. While occupying limited space, it manages only one-directional axial loads. Though it comes without ring raceways, you can combine it with them to suit applications which do not have raceways. In case you want the bearing to handle axial loads in both directions, you can have one more set of needle rollers and cage assemblies.

Needle thrust bearings with a flange: Suitable for handling one-directional axial loads but the design has a centering flange and a thrust washer, along with cage assemblies and needle rollers.

Many Uses of Needle Roller Thrust Bearings

With a needle roller bearing which not only accommodates radial loads but also manages axial displacement, you can have its use in a number of applications, such as two wheelers, cars, trucks, buses, light trucks and trailers in the automotive industry and machine tools. The bearing relatively has the rollers lined up in a small diameter deviation within an assembly, which helps the needle thrust bearing manage heavy axial loads, as well as peak loads.

With slight modification in the line contact, with the roller ends relieved, you can avoid stress peaks. The information given above will necessarily help you choose the most appropriate needle roller thrust bearing for your application.