What is a thrust ball bearing ?
A thrust ball bearing is designed to support axial loads (thrust loads) while allowing smooth rotation between the parts. It consists of a ring which is made up of a pair of chrome steel washers separated by balls as the rolling elements and spaced by a retainer. The function of the washers is to hold the balls together as a single element in order to facilitate smooth rotation by creating a separation of the moving parts of the bearing. Radial loads cannot be supported by thrust load bearings. These bearings use a considerably large number of balls which facilitates the capacity to carry a high thrust load in smaller space. Thrust ball bearings may either be of single direction or double direction. Below are the various kinds of thrust ball bearings. 1. Flat-race thrust bearing This type of thrust ball bearing does not have grooves and therefore can accommodate some degree of misalignment. One race can therefore slightly shift in relation to the other. There is high contact stress wit
