Plain bearings are used under high specific loads and various possible types of motion, from swivel type motion to overlaid motion. They are ideally suited to intermittent operation occurring on a periodic or non-periodic basis.

The plain bearings are bearings for very small radial or axial design envelopes where high load carrying capacity is nevertheless required. They can also be used under vibration coinciding with small amounts of motion. The plain bearings offer excellent damping characteristics especially under static loading, such as those required under shock loads.

Many of the plain bearings are destined for maintenance-free applications and in cases where long rating values are required.

Requirements of the application

Plain bearings from Schaeffler are available in various bearing types, designs and sizes as well as with different plain bearing materials.

Selection of the suitable bearing is dependent principally on the requirements of the application. These include:

• load conditions
  • type of load
  • direction of load
  • magnitude of load
• motion conditions
  • type of motion
  • direction of motion
  • frequency of motion
• adjacent construction
  • available design envelope
  • shaft, housing
• rating life requirement
• environmental influences
  • temperature
  • influence of media
  • contamination
  • lubrication.