Bearing rings, housings and flanges are bearing components that are used in the assembly of many different types of bearings. Bearing rings, which are sometimes referred to as bearing races, guide a rolling element such as a ball, roller, or needle roller. Bearing housings and flanges hold an insert bearing in position, support the load transferred from the bearing shaft through the bearing, and are used to mount the bearing to a surface.

Typically, there are two bearing rings or races that the rolling element (ball, roller, or needle roller) is guided between. For radial bearings, there is a concentric inner ring and outer ring; each rotates around the same axis. For thrust bearings, the axis of rotation is also the same, but the rings are not concentric. Instead, they are mounted parallel to each other, with the rolling element sandwiched between them. Depending on the type of bearing, the races may have a raceway for the rolling element to ride in, a spherical radius, or a flat surface. Lower-precision bearing rings are simply machined while higher-precision bearings are ground to precise tolerances.

Types of Bearing Rings, Housings, and Flanges

Bearing rings - Both inner rings and outer rings are available for ball bearings, needle bearings, and roller bearings.

Image: SDP/SI

Bearing housings - Choices include hanger bearing, bracket or offset, and pillow or plummer block.

Image Credit: SDSP/SI

Bearing flanges - Some have 2, 3 or 4 mounting holes for bolts and are round, square, triangular, or diamond-shaped.

Image Credit: Grainger

Applications

Bearing rings are used in all types of rolling element bearings. Bearing housings and bearing flanges are used to hold an insert bearing in position for use as flange mounted bearings or pillow block bearings.

Image credit:

GGB