What are the Different Applications for Flange Bearings?
If you work in heavy industry – the kind of work in the kinds of places that has equipment moving at high speeds, high loads, maybe high voltage – you want to keep the simple things simple, because you know how quickly they can get complex. Confusion can have very serious consequences. One thing we do well in this regard is not going over the top when naming components, especially the fundamental ones. For the most part, what they’re called is what they do or how they’re made.
Like a flange bearing, for example. Flange bearings are bearings with a flange. As with any other flange, this one allows the bearing to be secured to a mounting surface perpendicular to the shaft.
The flange secures the shaft over a larger surface area than a non-flange bearing, which allows the flange bearing to dissipate greater axial thrust than a similarly rated non-flange bearing. This arrangement also lets the flange bearing more effectively constrain vibrations along the shaft, whether those are caused by the machinery itself or by external factors, for example, movement over land or sea.
The more rugged and “off road” the vehicle, the greater the use case for a flanged bearing. Not just off-road trucks and ATVs, but construction vehicles, agricultural equipment and mining equipment. And since you don’t get more “off road” than being off land, flanged bearings play a role on boats and ships of all sizes, from high speed, low torque systems like recreational speed boats to the moderate speed massive torque demands of cargo ships and tugs.
Staying on land and in one place, flange bearings show up in all sorts of conveyors and belt-driven systems, from grain elevators and food production to assembly lines and people movers.
Flange bearings are simple in name and design, which makes them reliable, versatile, strong and user- and system-friendly.
For more information about the most important application of flange bearings – the one you’re thinking about right now – contact MDS and our experts will help you find the right bearing type and size for your next upgrade or repair cycle.
