Fabrication and service of all-ceramic ball bearings for extreme conditions applications

Abstract

Hot isostatic pressing silicon nitride material has properties that most metal materials do not have, such as low specific gravity, high strength, high stiffness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, extreme temperature resistance, electrical insulation, no magnetic permeability, and excellent dimensional stability Performance, self-lubricating performance, etc. It is one of the ideal alternative materials for the manufacturing of bearings applied to various extreme conditions. This manuscript focuses on the practical needs of bearings for environmental equipment such as extreme temperature and marine corrosion. These bearings are used to improve the ultimate speed and load capacity of the whole steel bearing design system in ultra-high speed applications (such as machine tool spindle and gas turbine engine); to eliminate corrosion and reduce friction under extreme temperature or corrosion conditions, so as to improve system performance. In this paper, from the preparation of ceramic bearing materials to the ultra-precision machining process of ceramic bearing components, the development status of ceramic bearings in recent years is introduced, and the future development and application prospect of ceramic bearings are prospected.