We are all aware that plastics expand and contract at different rates. When designing plastic plane bearings, one of the most critical considerations is to understand the thermal reactions of the material; designing not just for the normal operating temperatures of your environment, but to consider the minimum and maximum operating temperatures as well. Otherwise, you may lose the press fit (in cold temperatures) or expand to the point of shaft seizure (with hot temperatures).

This question was posed to me at a recent customer site visit. Ultimately, your choice of bearings for gear materials comes down to the friction, speed, and pressure of your application. And both bronze bearings and polymers can each play a role. Let’s dive in:

UHMW remains a hot topic here on Tech Talk, and on our Ask the Experts portal, too. Why is this true? For one, the material offers great value over other plastics, and has good abrasion-resistance properties, plus it is processed via a unique control (no molding, only machining). This trifecta of properties values make for a distinctive material, read on for more top FAQs:

If you’re a regular reader of Tech Talk, it will be no surprise that we’re big fans of composite plastics as a replacement for bronze bearings.

Composites offer a simple, one-piece construction and they eliminate many of the downsides of metal bearings – which we will outline below. When designing for your next application, here’s why you might want to consider a composite design instead.

Did you catch the live launch of Space X last week? This event marked a major milestone in spaceflight, while also unleashing the endless possibilities of future space exploration. For me, it brought to mind our long partnership of codesigning aerospace plastics such as seals and bearings with NASA engineers. Here’s how we helped the agency master a design to turn CO2 waste into potable drinking water aboard orbiting spacecraft.

Today we’re heading to the lab to review the surface energy of fluoropolymers after plasma treatment. As you may know, a fluoropolymer is a polymer containing carbon, and one where nearly all of the hydrogen has been replaced with fluorine.

Dust and debris are a challenge to all bearings. but impact some bearing types more than others. Food processing lines, paper mills, construction sites and other environments produce airborne contaminants than can clog and impede bearing rotation. And lubrication levels play a key role in bearing success or bearing failure, too. Let’s clear the dust to review bearing attributes for overcoming a dusty environment.

Are you a problem solver? I read this interesting article in Design World, which describes manufacturing as one of the best career choices for problem solvers. Given my plastics manufacturing and engineering background, this topic sparked my interest. Here’s why I chose this career, and some of the steps needed to grow the industry...

Looking for a tough, durable and versatile bearing for an industrial application? A filament wound composite bearing might be just the ticket based on several key qualities. Let’s review the top reasons: