Bearings for aerospace
Aerospace bearings are critical components in the aviation and space industries, designed to withstand extreme environments, high speeds and significant load variations.
As an aerospace bearing supplier, we provide high-quality aviation bearings engineered for precision, reliability and durability in demanding aerospace applications.
Bearings for used in space should ideally meet the AS9102 Aerospace First Article Inspection standard that covers processed for manufacturing parts. This is part of the AS9100 series of regulations, which is the ISO 9001 quality management system equivalent for aerospace.
Key applications of aerospace bearings
Aerospace bearings are used in a variety of applications including:
- Aircraft systems: Bearings are used in landing gear, flight control systems and engine components, where high-speed rotation and resistance to wear are essential
- Spacecraft mechanisms: Satellites, space probes and rockets rely on bearings to withstand vacuum conditions, high radiation exposure and zero-gravity environments
- Defence and military: Aerospace bearings are incorporated into military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and defence systems
Selecting aerospace bearings
We specialise in custom designed bearing solutions, ensuring each bearing meets precise aerospace requirements. Our high-performance materials, including corrosion-resistant stainless steel, ceramics and advanced coatings, improve durability and efficiency in demanding applications.
Ceramic bearings offer low friction, minimal thermal expansion and exceptional radiation resistance and are often used in thermal protection systems or heat shields in space. Ceramics effectively withstand extreme temperature changes, like when a spacecraft enters any type of atmosphere at high speeds. Ceramics have excellent low and high temperature stability which means they can be used in deep space and cryogenics as well as furnace applications.
Although ceramic bearings are harder than steel, the material is also more brittle. For this reason, full ceramic bearings are not used in very high-speed applications like machine tools or turbines. Hybrid bearings are preferred for these applications.
The cage of a stainless steel bearing can be made from AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel because of its excellent corrosion resistance and good performance at high temperatures.
We also offer a specialised bearing relubrication service where we clean and relubricate bearings from our own stock as well as customer-supplied bearings
We can relubricate our bearings with a range of aerospace greases suitable for high vacuum space environments We can also offer dry coatings such as MoS2 and WS2. Applying dry coatings to bearings can offer significant advantages. These coatings can offer a lower coefficient of friction for challenging space applications.
Contact our bearing specialists
As an experienced bearing specialist, we provide high-precision bearings designed to meet aerospace industry regulations and performance standards.
Get in touch with our specialist bearing team today by emailing sales@smbbearings.com or fill in the contact form.