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Home » Bearing

Bearing

What Does it Take to Make a Bearing?

Bearings are what make the world go around. Without them, many modern machines could not exist. And without heat treatment, bearings could not do their job.

Bearings take a variety of forms for different types of jobs. They include air, babbit, ball, magnetic and roller. Did you know that the first practical caged roller bearing was invented in 1760? Caged ball and roller bearings prevent the bearing elements from rubbing against each other, which causes additional friction.

Steel developments in the 1800s transformed the manufacture and use of rolling-element bearings. Anti-friction rolling-element bearings are manufactured from two basic types of steels: through-hardened and case-carburized. Through-hardened components, as the name implies, have the same hardness all the way through the part. Case-carburized components, on the other hand, denote a hard surface but a softer interior. These bearings are typically case hardened by carburizing the surface followed by a conventional austenitize, quench and temper hardening process.

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So, what exactly does it take to make a bearing? To gain further insight, Industrial Heating asked expert Mike Schneider, FASM, The Timken Company. Here’s what he had to say.

“Bearings are, for many, an unseen, taken-for-granted item. It’s just part of the package you buy. In actuality, a bearing is a highly engineered product that needs to be matched to the performance requirements of the application. They also require a lot of attention, and a lot of work, for proper heat treatment. But a well-designed process will yield good, consistent results and reward you with a long-term relationship with bearing manufacturers.

“While the market offers polymer, ceramic and nonferrous bearings for a wide variety of industries, this article will focus solely on heat-treated steel bearings used in non-aerospace applications.”

Click on the links below to see what else Schneider has to say on bearing production.

 

Timken12
Material Selection

The majority of bearing designs use steel and are classified as either bearing steels or case-carburized grades.

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Timken4in1
Melting

Steel cleanness is critical to the performance of most bearing applications, and literature has shown a direct relationship between how many inclusions are present in the steel and bearing life.

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Timken6in1
Material Conversion (Forging)

There are three mainstream material-conversion options: machining from tubing, machining from bar or machining from a forging.

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Timken10in
Material Testing/Verification

At a minimum, the end user should carefully read their casting certificate from the steel provider to ensure all customer requirements are met.

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Timken9in
Preparation for Heat Treatment

It is wise to visually inspect incoming bearing components for damage, especially on the raceways. Damage at this point will lead to “NCU,” or “no clean up,” at grind and a complaint from your customer.

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Timken8in
Part Loading/Fixturing

As with gear manufacturers, distortion is a concern for bearing manufacturers. The loading arrangement and heating rate used has a significant effect on distortion in either through hardening or case carburizing.

Continue reading here


 
Furnace Preparation

For through-hardening grades – whether a martensitic or bainitic structure is desired – decarburization, added carburization and intergranular oxidation (IGO) are not acceptable.

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Timken18in
Process Performance and Success Metrics

Performance and success for through-hardened, high-carbon components as well as carburized or surface-treated components will be reviewed.

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Timken7in
Part Cooling and Quenching

Distortion is very important to bearing races, and final dimensional results are critical to bearing performance.

Continue reading here


Timken20in
Post-Process Verification

Hardness and microstructure testing are very important to verify the process. Of course, dimensional control is vital, and statistically based testing is a must.

Continue reading here

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