About Plastic Bearings
Many engineers, designers and purchasers typically think of steel when choosing bearings. However, steel bearings have significant disadvantages in terms of weight, friction, noise and corrosion. Thermoplastics on the other hand, can withstand corrosive environments, are lightweight, non-magnetic, chemically and thermally resistant to name but a few qualities. They can also be moulded to any shape to generate design, production and even budget benefits.
This is why BNL’s plastic bearings are used by so many OEMs in so many applications.
BNL’s plastic bearings are...
...Corrosion & Chemical Resistant
In certain environments bearings can suffer significant corrosion and require regular replacement. In such situations plastic bearings operate more effectively and achieve a longer life than steel due to their corrosion resistant properties.
...Anti-Static
Bearing rotation generates static electricity, which can be harmful in certain environments. BNL can select thermoplastic materials to mould plastic bearings that have a range of conductivity.
...Lightweight
Even our plastic bearings which use the heavier types of thermoplastics (at 1420 kg/m³) are approximately twenty percent of the density of steel (7750 kg/m³).
...Non-Magnetic
Our plastic bearings can be designed with glass or ceramic balls and are ideally suited to applications where magnetic resonance is used, such as ATMs and X-ray machines. They will not create stray magnetic fields or false signals as is the risk with metal bearings.
...Low Inertia
Plastic bearings typically have a rotational inertia less than ten percent that of metal as they do not require lubrication which can contribute to inertia or the tight tolerances used in metal designs. Plastic bearings can have variable levels of inertia and can be designed to achieve torque levels of as low as 0.041Nmm (compared with a similar metal alternative of 0.235Nmm).
...Non-Lubricated
‘Bearings Non Lube’. BNL. Polymers are self lubricating, which lowers inertia, eliminates mess and contamination issues when the lubrication leaches out. For certain applications BNL can also provide greased products to reduce noise.
...Customisable
We specialise in fully moulded plastic bearings and assemblies which means we can adapt materials to create parts of different colours, in-mould decoration and branding. Our plastic bearings can also be plated, metallised or painted if required.
...Integrated
BNL promote added value through the integration of features such as axles, gears, fixing clips, mounting flanges and pulleys in order to form fully integrated assemblies. This maximises functionality and reduces the number of components, suppliers and assembly time to deliver significant cost.
...Moulded Plastic Bearings
The injection-moulding process significantly increases the wear resistance and achievable life of a thermoplastic bearing. A fine crystalline layer is formed round the bearing which has proved to be extremely resistant to fatigue induced wear. Machined bearings remove this layer when they are manufactured, making them more prone to wear.
More information is available in our White Paper, The Case for Plastic Bearings.
For more information on our plastic bearing capabilities please see our expertise section.
Our plastic bearings have proved to be a successful solution for many different applications, more details of these diverse applications are available in our plastic bearing applications section.
