5 Polymer Bearing Configurations and Their Advantages

Polymer wear rings were developed to offer an alternative to dissimilar metal wear rings.

One of the advantages to using a polymer material such as nylon or filled-Teflon instead of a metallic bearing is that the load may be spread out over a broader area. Whereas when you use bronze or metallic bushings, these materials are prone to point loading on the edges of the bearing.

This property of polymer bearings combined with solid lubricants can yield a product that is much less likely to damage moving components.

When selecting materials, we must consider the maximum load, the speed of the system, and whether there is any lubrication in the system.

The load (or pressure over area) that the bearing will see is the first consideration. This dictates which materials will be the best fit.

It’s important to use a material that has a minimum compressive strength rating so that it will not fail under the highest loading condition. The industry standard is to employ a safety factor so that the bearing is specified to be used well beyond its design limit.

Teflon should be your first consideration due to cost and ease of installation. Nylon or composites will provide much higher load rating, but the cost and installation need to be considered.

Teflon and composites provide service without lubrication, and the composites provide excellent service in aqueous solutions. Bushings are typically used in medium to slow reciprocating service. Rotary creates challenges that may or may not work depending on the design of the bushing.

There are many series of injection molded nylon bushings. However, nylon in low-lubrication or high-loading may create high-friction, and can be noisy. Nylon, as a low-cost bushing, can be used in some high load situations.

A final consideration before going into large scale production is the cost of talking a bearing design into high production. Some bearing materials are expensive and can only be processed by machining, which limits the cost reduction scenarios at high volumes.

Materials such as filled-PTFE or thermoplastics that can be molded offer cost competitive solutions for high-production applications. Eclipse provides bearings in everything from low-quantity applications, such as bridges and dams, to mid-quantity applications in aerospace.

Eclipse Engineering has experience in bearing selections based on your exact needs. Our engineers will consider all the application variables to optimize the bearing design. We also utilize all the materials mentioned and many other materials such as PEEK , UHMW , and Torlon , just to name a few.

For all your polymer needs in bearings, seals, and shapes, we’re happy to develop a solution for your application. Contact us today »