Benefits of Tapered Roller Bearings

Tapered roller bearings are a common type of rolling element bearing used in many heavy duty truck applications. They are found in wheel ends, steer axles, drive axles, pusher axles, tag axles and trailer wheels.

They can withstand large axial and radial forces due to the way they are constructed. This is achieved by the inner ring race ways being cone shaped and the rollers being tapered leading to congruency between all parts of the cone and the roller axis.

The cone geometry creates a line contact that permits greater load capacity than with spherical (ball) bearings, which have point contact. This means that the tangential speeds of the surfaces of the rollers are the same as the raceways along the entire length of the contact patch, without differential scrubbing.

These bearings are also able to support axial loads as well as radial loads with greater ease than other types of roller bearings. This is because of the conical shape and the flanges that stabilize the rollers and stop them from popping out.

Some tapered roller bearings can also take a thrust load with the addition of a guiding flange on one of the rings' sides. This can increase the bearing's axial load capacity or support a thrust load in two directions depending on the flange size and position.

This can be beneficial for certain situations where a spherical bearing would not have been capable of supporting the desired load, such as the pinion shaft of a car's differential gear. This allows more force to be supported in the pinion shaft without compromising the rated life of the bearing.

Another benefit of tapered roller bearings is that they deflect less than other types of bearings. This makes them popular for machine tools that require a high degree of accuracy in their shaft position.

For this reason, it is often recommended to use a preload to improve the accuracy of a tapered roller bearing. This will ensure that the load distribution on the bearing stays uniformly distributed and that there is no deflection from one point to the next.

In addition, a preload can help prevent the inward movement of the rollers and thus reduce their contact stress. This in turn can increase the overall rating life of the bearing and its ability to handle large loads.

These bearings can be made from a variety of materials and designs to fit specific requirements. For example, integral tapered roller bearings can be made from glass fibre reinforced polyamide PA66 and are suitable for continuous operating temperatures and challenging operating conditions.

Some tapered roller bearings have cages that are made from sheet steel or stainless steel and are suitable for use in heavy-duty applications. These cages can also be made from a variety of other materials and can have different shapes and sizes.

Choosing the Right Tapered Roller Bearing for Your Application

A tapered roller bearing is a good choice for applications that demand high rigidity with a large load capacity. This is especially true if the load in the bearing is a combination of moment and axial loads.