Help with Metal Balls specifications:
Size / Diameter
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| Diameter / OD | The outer diameter (OD) or width of the sphere or ball shape. This is the average particulate diameter for raw materials such as spherical powders or microspheres. | ||
| Search Logic: | User may specify either, both, or neither of the "At Least" and "No More Than" values. Products returned as matches will meet all specified criteria. | ||
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| ANSI / ABMA Grade | American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA) standard grades for balls or spheres use measures for sphericity or roundness deviation and ball diameter variation or tolerance and surface roughness tolerance for determination of ball grade. DIN and ISO 3290 provide similar European standards for ball grade specification along parameters similar to ABMA grade specifications. AMBA Grade 3 has a spherical deviation of 3 millionths of an inch (0.000003). AMBA Grade 5 has a spherical deviation of 3 millionths of an inch (0.000005). AMBA Grade 10 has a spherical deviation of 10 millionths of an inch (0.000010). ABMA Grade 25 has a spherical deviation of 25 millionths of an inch (0.000025). AMBA Grade 50 has a spherical deviation of 50 millionths of an inch (0.000050). AMBA Grade 500 has a spherical deviation of 500 millionths of an inch (0.0005). AMBA Grade 1000 has a spherical deviation of 1000 millionths or 1 thousandth of an inch (0.001). American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA) was formerly known as Anti Friction Bearing Manufacturers Association (AFBMA), so some manufacturers will still reference AFBMA grades. | ||
| Search Logic: | User may specify either, both, or neither of the "At Least" and "No More Than" values. Products returned as matches will meet all specified criteria. | ||
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Metal / Alloy Type
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| Metal / Alloy Type | |||
| Your choices are... | |||
| Alloy Steel | Alloy steels are ferrous alloys based on iron, carbon and high to low levels of alloying elements such as chromium, molybdenum, vanadium and nickel. Alloy steels include hardenable high alloy steels, high strength low alloy steels, maraging steels and other specialty steel alloys. Steel alloys are used in a wide variety of applications in almost every industrial segment. Low alloy steels can be fabricated easily by machining, forming, casting and welding. | ||
| Aluminum / Aluminum Alloy (UNS A) | Aluminum and aluminum alloys are lightweight, non-ferrous metals with good corrosion resistance, ductility, and strength. Aluminum is relatively easy to fabricate by forming, machining, or welding. This metal is a good electrical and thermal conductor. Aluminum is also useful as an alloying element in steel and titanium alloys. Aluminum alloys are versatile metals with applications in almost every industrial and commercial segment. | ||
| Carbon Steel | Plain carbon steels are ferrous alloys based on iron, carbon and small levels of other alloying elements such as manganese or aluminum. Carbon steels include soft, non-hardenable low carbon or mild steels such as 1020, as well as hardenable high carbon steels such as 1095. Steel alloys are used in a wide variety of applications in almost every industrial segment. Mild steels and low carbon steels can be fabricated easily by machining, forming, casting and welding. | ||
| Cobalt / Cobalt Alloy | Cobalt and cobalt alloys are non-ferrous magnetic alloys with high strength and toughness, excellent corrosion and oxidation resistance, and high temperature strength. Cobalt can also be magnetized. Cobalt's properties result in the use of cobalt alloys in jet engine super-alloy components, prosthetic devices, magnets, and cutting tool binders. Cobalt is also a useful alloying element in tool, maraging and other alloy steels. | ||
| Copper / Copper Alloy | Copper and copper alloys are non-ferrous metals with excellent electrical and thermal conductivity as well as good corrosion resistance, ductility and strength. Copper alloys are relatively easy to fabricate by forming, casting or machining. Pure copper is more difficult to weld, cast or machine. Brass, tin bronze, leaded brass, beryllium copper and zirconium copper are examples of copper alloys. Copper is also useful as an alloying element in aluminum alloys and powder metal based iron alloys. Copper is a versatile metal with applications in many industrial and commercial segments. Copper's high electrical conductivity (100% IACS) make it extremely useful in electrical and electronic applications. | ||
| Nickel / Nickel Alloy | Nickel and nickel alloys are non-ferrous metals with high strength and toughness, excellent corrosion resistance, and superior elevated temperature properties. Nickel can also be magnetized. Nickel's properties result in the use of nickel alloys in jet engine super-alloy components, corrosion resistant chemical process equipment (valves, piping, and pumps), magnets and electrical resistance alloys, and heating elements. Nickel is also a useful alloying element in stainless, tool, maraging and other alloy steels. | ||
| Refractory / Reactive (UNS R) | Refractory and reactive metals include boron (B), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb) / columbium (Cb), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), thorium (Th), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), rhenium ( ), and titanium (Ti). Refractory metals and alloys are metals with melting points above ~1750 C (~ 32000 F). Refractory metals include tungsten tantalum, molybdenum, niobium, and zirconium. Refractory metals are used in high temperature, structural, electrical, and other specialty applications. Reactive metals combine readily with oxygen at elevated temperatures to form very stable oxides. Titanium, zirconium, and beryllium are considered reactive metals. Finely divided reactive metals can react explosively with oxygen and are often added to rocket fuels or combustible mixtures. A highly stable oxide film formed on the alloy surface provides protection against further oxidization or corrosion at low to moderate temperatures. Reactive metals can become embrittled if there is too much interstitial absorption into the lattice of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. | ||
| Stainless Steel | Stainless steels are highly corrosion resistant, ferrous alloys that contain chromium and/or nickel additions. There are three basic types of products: austenitic stainless steels, ferritic and martensitic stainless steels, and specialty stainless steels and iron superalloys. Austenitic stainless steels (AISI 300 / 200 Series) are highly corrosion resistant, ferrous alloys that contain chromium and nickel or manganese additions. Generally, austenitic stainless steels are more corrosion resistant than ferritic or martensitic stainless steels. Annealed austenitic stainless steels are non-magnetic. Cold working is used to harden austenitic stainless steels because these alloys do not respond to conventional quench and temper hardening processes. Ferritic and martensitic stainless steels are highly corrosion resistant, ferrous alloys that contain chromium and/or carbon additions. Ferritic stainless steels are soft, easy to form metal alloys. Cold working is used to harden ferritic stainless steels because these alloys do not respond to conventional quench and temper hardening processes. Ferritic stainless steels are formed to fabricate mufflers and other sheet metal components that require good corrosion resistance. Martensitic stainless steels can be hardened by a conventional quench and temper operation. Martensitic stainless steels are used for knife blades, tooling or other applications that require good corrosion resistance combined with higher hardness and wear resistance. Specialty stainless steels and iron superalloys are highly corrosion resistant, ferrous alloys containing chromium, nickel or other alloying additions to provide high strength or heat resistance. Duplex and precipitation hardening stainless steels belong in this category. | ||
| Titanium / Titanium Alloy | Titanium and titanium alloys are non-ferrous metals with excellent corrosion resistance, good fatigue properties, and a high strength-to-weight ratio. Titanium's properties result in the use of titanium and titanium alloys in aircraft or air frame parts, jet engine super-alloy components, corrosion resistant chemical process equipment (valves, piping, and pumps), prostheses or medical devices, and marine equipment. | ||
| Tool Steel | Tool steels are wear resistant, ferrous alloys based on iron and carbon with high levels of alloying (hardenability and property modifying) elements such as chromium, molybdenum, tungsten and vanadium. Specific tool steel grades are available for die or cold work, hot work, high speed and shock resistance applications. Tool steel alloys are used in a wide variety of applications that require wear resistance. They are difficult to fabricate in their hardened form and are usually EDM-machined or ground to achieve the tolerances required for tooling applications. EDM is an acronym for electrical discharge machining, a process that can cut small or odd-shaped angles, intricate contours and cavities in extremely hard steels and exotic metals. | ||
| Tungsten Carbide (WC) | Tungsten carbide (WC) materials are compounds of a tungsten metal and carbon. Metal carbides are also known as hard metals. Metal carbides have high hardness and high hot hardness which makes them useful for cutting tools, forming dies and other wear applications. Metal carbides often use a cobalt, nickel or intermetallic metal bond between grains (cemented carbides), which results in increased toughness compared a pure carbide or ceramic. | ||
| Specialty - Ferrous Alloy | Other miscellaneous ferrous alloys have specialized or proprietary compositions or properties. Examples include maraging steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, and iron-based superalloys. | ||
| Specialty - Nonferrous | Other miscellaneous nonferrous metals or alloy grades. | ||
| Search Logic: | All products with ANY of the selected attributes will be returned as matches. Leaving all boxes unchecked will not limit the search criteria for this question; products with all attribute options will be returned as matches. | ||
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| Composite Material? | Composite materials are filled with a strengthening phase, reinforcement fibers, toughening phase or other specialty fillers that provide unique properties. | ||
| Search Logic: | "Required" and "Must Not Have" criteria limit returned matches as specified. Products with optional attributes will be returned for either choice. | ||
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Applications
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| Applications | |||
| Your choices are... | |||
| Aerospace | Ball and sphere shapes suitable for aerospace application such as airframe bearings, gyroscopes (gyros), navigation systems, flow meters, avionic instruments and other aerospace parts. The metal balls are often manufactured from vacuum melted or aircraft grade steels, stainless steels, tool steels, silicon nitride and titanium nitride coated alloy steels. | ||
| Agitators | Balls or sphere shapes are suitable corrosion and density (weight) for agitation or mixing applications such as the agitator balls often used in aerosol paint cans. | ||
| Automotive | Automotive applications for balls include ball bearings, seating tracks or seat slides, safety restraints and seatbelt locking mechanisms, airbag balls, constant velocity (CV) joints, double offset joints, tripod joints, cross groove joints, spindle bearings, fuel injectors, dent removal devices, brake systems, baffle balls are hollow balls with through openings to reduce fluid movement (sloshing in tanks), transmission parts clutch assemblies, steering mechanisms and other critical automotive systems. | ||
| Ballizing | Balls suitable for use in ballizing, ball broaching or hole-sizing processes. In ballizing, a hard carbide ball is forced down a bore. The ball is slightly larger than the bore, which caused the bore to be expanded. The internal bore's surface is plastically deformed and burnished. | ||
| Bearing / Power Transmission | Ball sphere shape have suitable hardness, diameter variations and sphericity tolerances for ball bearing, ball joint, ball screw, slide, guide, CV joint, clutch, and other power transmission applications. | ||
| Conveyors / Ball Transfers | Balls or sphere shapes have suitable characteristics for use in conveyors, ball transfer units, roller table, casters, roller or Lazy Susan applications. | ||
| Couplings / Fasteners | Spring loaded balls are used in quick disconnect couplings or snap on fasteners and fastening systems. The balls is compressed the spring and then is release when it catches a hemispherical hollow indent in a surface. Socket wrenches often use this type of fastening mechanism to hold onto the socket. | ||
| Deblinding / Screen | Screen balls are used in screeners, separators and sieving machines to deblind or knock up screen or sieve openings plugged with particulates or powder particles. Screen balls typical consist of rubber or plastic materials because these materials can absorb impacts without prematurely wearing out metal screens or cloth sieves. | ||
| Electronics / Electrical | Electrically conductive brass, copper or precious metal spheres are used in electrical contact, contact balls, battery safety release, audio ball covers, switches and microelectronic interconnection applications. Dielectric balls and spheres can also find use in electrical and electronic applications. | ||
| Float / Level Sensing | Lower density or hollow balls are often used in float and level sensing applications. | ||
| Flow / Metering | Balls or sphere shapes used in flow meters, flow controllers and metering devices. Simple ball flow meters or ball rotameters use the flow of gas or liquid in a calibrated tube to move an indicating ball. The position of the ball in the graduated tube indicates flow level. | ||
| Gaging / Alignment | Gage balls are used in dimensional measurement. Gage balls often have stem or can be attached to thread handle. Target ball provide a specific reference point e.g., LiDAR Targeting Spheres / Registration Spheres). Alignment balls are used in aligning components by providing a consistent spacing or gap regardless of the movement of the ball across the surface. | ||
| Jewelry / Ornamental | Ball and sphere shapes suitable for jewelry or ornamental applications where surface finish, color and corrosion resistance are key factors. In body jewelry or body piercing applications, biocompatibility is another factor in the selection of balls. Ornamental applications include watches, spectacles eyeglass frames, wallpaper enhancement, crafts, home decoration, fence or post finials, flagpole tops and furniture. | ||
| Medical / Biotech | Balls or sphere shapes for medical or biotech applications meet FDA or other cleanliness standards, can be sterilized or autoclaved, are biocompatible and in some cases fatigue resistant. The balls are typically manufactured in cleanroom environments and are used in flow controllers, spirometers, fluid metering devices, surgical tools, joint implants, assay beads, medicine balls, eye ball prosthetics, and other medical components. Glass, plastic, ceramic and metals with corrosion resistance and biocompatibility are used in biotechnology and medical applications. | ||
| Oil & Gas / Mining | Balls are suitable for applications that can handle exposure to corrosive sour gases, erosive drilling and mining fluids and abrasive minerals. Oil and gas industry applications entail extracting, synthesizing or processing oils, gas or fuels such as well drilling, well maintenance, pumping, oil refining, re-refining, recovery, and recycling. Mining industry application deal with excavation, water and slurry pumping, earth moving, and drilling under conditions where abrasive, corrosive and erosive minerals, rocks and soils are handled. | ||
| Pens / Roll-on Dispensers | Balls and sphere shapes suitable for pen tip and roll-on dispenser applications. Metal, carbide, and ceramic balls are used in pen tip applications. Plastic balls are used in roll-on dispensers to dispense films for deodorant, antiperspirant, adhesives, sealant and marking materials. | ||
| Pollution / Vapor Control | Vapor or pollution control balls reduce chemical vapor emissions by providing a larger liquid surface in scrubbers for greater liquid and air or gas contact, which allow better control of heat losses, microbial growth, fume and odor releases, misting, evaporation, liquid evaporation, and contamination. Vapor containment balls are used a support media or packing in scrubbers, wastewater treatment units, biologically remediation systems, solvent recovery equipment and pollution control systems. | ||
| Sprayers / Pumps | Balls designed for sprayer or pump applications such as sprayer pump balls, trigger spray balls, dispenser pumps, finger pump balls, lotion dispenser balls, and atomizer balls. Pump balls must have controlled sphericity and sufficient tolerances to properly seal (act as one way valve) and in some cases the ball also provides clearance for uniform flow or controlled metering of the sprayed liquid or dispensed grease, cream or slurry. | ||
| Valves | Balls designed for valve applications such as check valve balls, ball valve balls, trunnion balls, segment balls, stem balls, three way balls, four way balls, poly or multiple way balls, two piece balls and stems kits, characterized balls, floating valve balls, Valve balls must have controlled sphericity and sufficient tolerances to properly seal against the valve seat. Ball valve balls have typically have a through hole and may have a thread bore, slot or stem. Characterized balls have a through hole with a specialized shape to provide a more uniform flow between the open and closed states. | ||
| Specialty / Other | Other proprietary, patented or specialty applications such as downhole alignment components, drilling equipment, swivel balls, pinball machines, playpen, game balls, ball pits, weights, toys, bicycle parts, foosball balls, wiffle balls, hardness testers, handles, knobs, skates, drawer slides, spacers, fillers, support media, projectiles, marine parts, oil & gas components, mining equipment, door locks, and coffee makers. | ||
| Search Logic: | All products with ANY of the selected attributes will be returned as matches. Leaving all boxes unchecked will not limit the search criteria for this question; products with all attribute options will be returned as matches. | ||
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Features
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| Features | |||
| Your choices are... | |||
| Corrosion Resistant | Materials are designed or suitable for service applications that require corrosion resistance. Medical, marine, aerospace, chemical process, automotive and jewelry application often require corrosion resistant balls. | ||
| Hole / Bore | The ball or sphere has a blind hole or through hole. Balls with one or more through holes are key component in ball valves. Multiple holes can provide multiple way ball valves. Most ball valves use simple through holes with a circular cross section. Characterized balls have a "V" shaped hole, which allows more accurate flow control and throttling. | ||
| Hollow | Ball shape is supplied or available with a hollow center. | ||
| Dielectric / Electrically Insulating | The ball or sphere shape is manufactured from electrically insulating or dielectric material, which has very high resistivity. Dielectric balls are used when a system or a component of a system needs to be electrically isolated. | ||
| Electrically Conductive | The ball or sphere shape is manufactured from electrically conductive materials, which has very low resistivity. Electrically conductive brass, copper or precious metal spheres are used in electrical contact and microelectronic interconnection applications. | ||
| Nonmagnetic | The ball or sphere shape is manufactured from nonmagnetic materials. | ||
| Refractory / High Temperature | Refractory materials are designed or suitable for service applications that require heat resistance for high temperature applications. Aerospace, engine, turbine, automotive, oil & gas, and chemical process applications may require heat resistant balls. Refractory and high-temperature materials are hard, heat-resistant products such as alumina cement, fire clay, bricks, precast shapes, cement or monolithics, and ceramic kiln furniture. Ceramic refractories have high melting points and are suitable for applications requiring wear-resistance, high temperature strength, electrical or thermal insulation, or other specialized characteristics. | ||
| Stem / Trunnion | Balls have an attached stem or trunnion. Balls for valve often have stems or trunnions for locating and rotating the ball in the valve seat. | ||
| Threaded | The ball has a modified shape consisting of a threaded blind hole, thread through hole or an attached threaded stem. | ||
| Truncated / Flat | The ball has a modified shape consisting of a flat, recessed and/or stepped surface on one or more sides. | ||
| Wear Resistant (Bearing / Tool Grade) | Ball or sphere shapes use materials that are designed or suitable for service applications which require wear or erosion resistance. The balls are usually precision-ground for bearing or tooling applications. Material compositions are chosen or tailored to have high hardness, low sliding friction and high wear resistance. Bearing grade polymeric or plastic products often use high molecular weight polymers (UHMW PE, HDPE) and/or solid lubricant additives. | ||
| Specialty / Other | Other unlisted proprietary, patented or specialty features. | ||
| Search Logic: | All products with ANY of the selected attributes will be returned as matches. Leaving all boxes unchecked will not limit the search criteria for this question; products with all attribute options will be returned as matches. | ||
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