Quote:
|
Originally Posted by VinceT
This is our 5th year competeing in FIRST and every year we've used the bearings from the kit or pillow blocks for our drive train and all of our other moving parts, but this year our sponsor is getting gung-ho about these oil-impregnated brass bushings. I can't find any information about the advantages/disadvantages for them and he's not very forthcoming with information about it. I was wondering if any teams have tried them and if so how they feel about them.
Vince T 418
|
Here's a link to the McMaster-Carr website which has a link down the page with decent infomation information about bushing ratings:
http://www.mcmaster.com/param/asp/psearch.asp?FAM=plainbearings&FT_101=3902&session= desc=Bronze%20Bearings;plainbearings,101=3902
And..I cranked some numbers, a 5/8" diameter bushing that's a half inch long can handle a max RPM of about 800, and the Pmax I calculted on a 130 lbs robot, divided by 4 wheels with two bearings supporting it is about 5... for a PV equal to about 4000, and the bearing has a PV rating of around 50,000. So.. technically, these simple bearings could be used in lieu of ball bearings in certain applications.
However, I think that there's more to the story than that. There are many applications where you're going to need a RPM that's higher than 800, especially in gear boxes. In those applications, many ball bearings have RPM ratings much higher, and would be more applicable.
And... I'm late to class for answering this post. Hope it helped.
Matt