Needle roller thrust bearings can support heavy axial loads, are insensitive to shock loads and provide stiff bearing arrangements which require a minimum of axial space. They are single direction bearings and can only accommodate axial loads acting in one direction.

Particularly compact bearing arrangements can be made, taking up no more space than a conventional thrust washer, if the faces of adjacent machine components can serve as raceways for a needle roller and cage thrust assembly. For applications where adjacent components cannot serve as raceways, the assemblies can also be combined with washers of various designs.

Because of all the possible combinations, all bearing components must be ordered separately.

Needle roller and cage thrust assemblies

SKF needle roller and cage thrust assemblies (fig. 1) consist of a form-stable cage which reliably guides and retains a large number of needle rollers. The needle rollers of one assembly have only very slight diameter deviations; the cylindrical surface of the rollers is slightly relieved towards the ends, thus ensuring an even load distribution and preventing damaging edge loads from occurring.


Bearing washers

Raceway washers, series LS

Raceway washers of the LS series (fig. 2) are made of carbon chromium (rolling bearing) steel and are hardened. The raceways are ground and the bore and outside diameter are turned. They may be used both as shaft and as housing washers for bearing arrangements where accurate centring of the washers is not needed or where low speeds are involved.

Thrust washers, series AS

Thrust washers of the AS series (fig. 3) are only 1 mm thick and are made of spring steel. The washers are hardened and polished. They enable very economic bearing arrangements to be produced in cases where, the adjacent machine components are not suitable as raceways, but do have adequate stiffness, and running accuracy requirements are only moderate. The thrust washers can be used both as shaft and as housing washers.

Bearing washers, series WS 811 and GS 811

In addition to the above mentioned LS raceway washers and AS thrust washers, needle roller and cage thrust assemblies can also be combined with the WS shaft washers (fig. 4) and GS housing washers (fig. 5) of cylindrical roller thrust bearings of series 811. The use of these shaft and housing washers is recommended, for example, for operation at high speeds when accurate centring of the bearing washers is required. The dimensions and designations of these washers are included in the product table.


Double direction bearings

By combining intermediate washers, needle roller and cage assemblies of series AXK and the bearing washers (already described) it is possible to assemble double direction needle roller thrust bearings with internal centring (fig. 6) or with external centring (fig. 7).