What Is an Axial Load Bearing?

What Constitutes an Axial Load Bearing?

Simply put, axial load bearings are designed to absorb force along the direction of a shaft when installed, preventing forward or backward sliding movement under pressure. While axial load bearings vary in form to perform different tasks, their most crucial design is the internal direction in which force travels through their rolling elements between raceways, known as the contact angle. Most radial bearings have 0-degree contact angles to handle sideways forces, whereas pure axial bearings are built with steep 90-degree contact angles that face directly against the incoming push. Notably, some options may use raceways angled between 30 to 60 degrees to manage thrust and radial forces simultaneously. Either way, the force is distributed more evenly around the entire ring of an axial bearing’s rolling elements, rather than jamming sideways against raceway walls.

Common Axial Bearing Subtypes

• Thrust Ball Bearings: With spherical rolling elements positioned between grooved raceways, thrust ball bearings display minimal point contact and are well suited to higher-speed applications with light-to-moderate pure axial loads.
• Cylindrical Roller Thrust Bearings: Featuring flat-ended, cylindrical rollers, these bearings provide broad line contact against planar raceways for high axial load capacity at moderate speeds.
• Tapered Roller Thrust Bearings: Tapered roller thrust bearings are similar to their cylindrical counterparts, just with rollers and raceways that are more conical to direct contact toward the central apex on the shaft line. This enables them to withstand exceptionally heavy axial impact and shock loads while keeping a shaft rigidly centered, and they are also capable of handling combined loads.
• Spherical Roller Thrust Bearings: Containing a curved, bowl-like raceway holding barrel-shaped rollers, spherical roller thrust bearings are made to be inherently self-aligning despite massive axial loads that may cause a shaft to flex or sway out of alignment.

Typical Use Cases for Axial Load Bearings

There are countless areas where axial load bearings are indispensable, with some prevalent examples including:

• Aircraft Engines: Jet engines compress huge volumes of intake air and let out high-pressure exhaust gasses, both of which create intense thrust along the main rotor shaft. As such, axial load bearings are often mounted in dedicated areas along this shaft to anchor it in place and preserve clearances between rotating blades and the engine casing.
• Helicopter Swashplates: Helicopter blades cause upward aerodynamic lift that pulls on the pitch-control linkages, making it harder to accomplish smooth blade pitch angle changes without the use of axial bearings inside the swashplate assembly and blade pitch-control hinge.
• Automotive Transmissions: The helical gears regularly employed in manual and automatic vehicle transmissions have angled teeth that mesh at an incline and prompt a strong longitudinal push along the shaft as users accelerate. To let them rotate seamlessly and prevent misalignment, axial load bearings are seated on the transmission shafts between gear faces.
• Industrial Extruders: In plastic and metal extrusion machinery, heavy-duty axial bearings are found behind the main drive screw at the back of the barrel to absorb the backward thrust generated when forcing dense materials through a die.

Source Bearings with ASAP Semiconductor

No matter what types of loads are present, selecting quality bearings that can properly handle loads is imperative to keep equipment from quickly wearing down and imposing issues. Always refer to existing manuals and guides when selecting bearings, and when it comes time to purchase them, only turn to a source you can trust. At ASAP Semiconductor, we stock thousands of bearings and other product types from renowned manufacturers in the hopes of having a fitting solution for every project. To help you find what you need out of such a massive inventory, we present a direct search tool with filters, a collection of organized catalogs, and accurate listing information alongside every part number.

Beyond ease of browsing, every customer benefits from the assurance and convenience of working with a fully certified and accredited distributor. Our years of experience and strong supplier relationships give us flexibility in the fulfillment options we can offer without compromising on reliability, often leading to time and cost savings. There is far more that we promise, so explore our website and contact us at your convenience to see how we can help you alleviate the stress of procurement.