Ceramic ball bearings are now being used at every conceivable place instead of the regular ball bearings. Ceramic being the material used in most of the place where intense heat is generated.
Friction is general caused by two surfaces being rubbed against each other which causes resistance and generates heat. Scientists discovered the wheel and applied that theory of a single point of contact which caused the less surface area to be in contact and that means less resistance.
That said the ball bearings were invented which were like two rolling surfaces which had the inner and the outer sleeve separated by small steel balls. These steel balls transfer the weight from the outer sleeve to inner sleeve. The balls play a very important role when it comes to ball bearings.
The general issue with the steel ball bearings was that they generated intense heat and most of the steel ball bearings either spun off a lot of particles which destroyed the lubricant or interfere with the normal functioning of the ball bearings. To overcome this problem ceramic as a material was suggested which generally was used in the space shuttles when they entered the earth's atmosphere.
The ceramic material is made up of the silica nitrite and zirconium and those materials are bale to withstand large amounts of heat without any wear and tear. This helps in saving the precious lubricants and reducing cost of lubricants. The industry as a whole has now done sufficient research on the ceramic ball bearings and they are now widely used in all types of machinery wherever there is excessive heat being generated.
There are three generally used types of ceramic ball bearings which are full, partial and hybrid ceramic ball bearings. The full ceramic ball bearings have all three namely the ball, inner sleeve and the outer sleeve made up of ceramic whereas the partial has only the ball which is made of ceramic and the sleeves are made up of steel.
In hybrid ball bearings the material which is used has a different composition of the ceramic being used and its applicability is limited.
The ceramic ball bearings have in fact revolutionized the use of ball bearings and also it has reduced the cost of operating the machines which had the original steel ball bearings. With less lubrication's and longer life being the major factors which have helped reduce the cost of maintenance of the machines.
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