The Influence of Misalignment on Self-Lubricated Bearings

In all structures there are several reasons why misalignment can occur at a bearing. This is especially true with large structures such as off-highway equipment of all types, agricultural tractors and implements and roadway vehicles. Equipment of these types will see more bearing alignment problems than smaller automobiles, garden equipment and machine tools. Misalignments can be attributed to distortion in welded units. Efforts to line bore long distances and simply the accumulation of tolerances on several parts also cause alignment problems. Even if the designer makes diligent efforts to reduce tolerancing and manufacturing inaccuracies, the bearing surface will still be subjected to structural misalignment simply due to load application even though not considered overloading. All of these misalignment causes can occur individually or simultantously subsequently causing bearing overloading to shorten bearing life or crush the bearing.