Bearings are basically used to reduce friction between two moving metals. They help smooth functioning of machines and provide durability and easy accessibility to the machine and the application. The bearings are categorized into several types based on the rolling element build in it. Some among the basic bearings are

• Ball bearing- Have ball shaped rolling element present in it
• Spherical bearing- Have Spherical shaped rolling element present in it
• Cylindrical bearing- Have Cylindrical shaped rolling element present in it

Used for different purpose and applications the above-mentioned bearings are further classifieds into several bearings based on the application and uses. Here we will see the main features and uses of spherical bearing.

Salient features and uses of Spherical bearings

Spherical Plain Bearing | Image Resource: wikipedia.org

Used in several application which requires heavy loads in medium speed needed to be handled Spherical bearings works well at heavy misalignment. Gearboxes, and wind turbines are some of the common application areas. The bearing is made of high resistance materials and have swaging a ductile race surrounding a hardened ball. The race is not fixed tightly to get clearance torque.

Generally, a spherical bearing permits angular rotation and support the rotating shaft. They rotate within the specified angular limit. The inner ring maintains an angle while rotating. These bearings have high Self-aligning feature and the first spherical bearings were first used to support line shaft bearings in mills and machine shops.

Furthermore, these bearings deal with very heavy radial and axial loads applications where more misalignment chances are there. They can also handle shaft deflections too for this reason they have low maintenance costs and durability. There are different variants available in spherical bearings.

Pillow Block Bearing and Angular Contact Bearing

Many times, the Spherical bearings are used in places where heavy thrust need to be handles. Here a pillow block bearing comes to rescue. A pillow block bearing consists of a mounting bracket or a pillow block that holds the bearing. Basically, they are used in low- torque applications. Generally, all types of bearing such as roller bearing, spherical bearing and cylindrical bearing have a pillow block bearing where pillow block is bolted to a foundation for more safety.

On the other hand, an angular contact bearing angular contact ball bearings can withstand high radial-axial loads at high speed. They are generally, usually found in single rowed, double rowed and multi rowed to handle extreme conditions.

Search online to find more details about spherical plain bearings and other bearing. They are being found in a range of varieties, types and sizes it is very difficult to choose the best suited bearing for your application. So, an expert advice is inevitable while choosing a bearing.