What are the characteristics of plastic plain bearings?
As already indicated, the function of a plain bearing is to minimise the friction of an axial or radial movement during rotation, sliding, or pivoting motions. The following properties are characteristic of plastic plain bearings and bearing bushes in general:
- need little installation space
- suitable for high loads, high load ratings
- suitable for low-speed operation
- relatively insensitive to pollution and weathering
- high chemical resistance
- hard-wearing
- relatively cheap compared to other bearing types
- easy obtainable
- diverse choice of materials
- very limited capture of misalignment errors
- plastic has a low coefficient of friction
- plastic versions are self-lubricating, with metals this is limited
- plastic versions are maintenance-free
What types of plain bearings are available?
Plain bearings have many vernacular names, of which plain bearing and bearing bush are probably the best known. However, bearing sleeve, plain bushing, flange bearing, flange bushing or flange sleeve are also not unfamiliar synonyms.
Our range includes plastic plain bearings with or without collar (flange). Plain bearings with collar function not only as radial bearings, but also as axial bearings due to the collar. Alternatively, plain bearings with collar are sometimes also used as insulating sleeves, but we have a wide range in this as well.
The standard plastic plain bearings are available in polyamide (PA6.6), also known as Nylon. On request, other plastics are also possible, for example polyamide with glass fibre reinforcement, PTFE (Teflon) etc. The corrosion and chemical resistance of plastics can, in certain situations, be of great advantage over metal plain bearings.
Besides other types of plastic, we also supply other types of plain bearings on request, for example clip bearings. Would you like to know more? Then feel free to contact us.
