Technical Information

SEALED BEARINGS

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Technical Information
Sealing
The seal has considerable influence on the service life of a bearing arrangement and finally the application. On one hand, it should prevent the lubricant from escaping from the bearing and on the other hand prevent the contaminants from entering the bearing. Contaminants have diverse effects: A larger number of tiny particles act as abrasives and lead to wear in the bearing. An increase in clearance or the development of more noise puts an end to the service life of the bearing. Larger, cycled hard particles reduce the fatigue life because pitting develops at indentation when the bearing loads are high. FAG has two types of sealing arrangements, non-contact type sealing and contact type sealing.

Non-contact type seals

These are non-contact type sealing arrangement also known as dust shields made of CRCA steel (ZR) mounted tightly in the recess made in the outer ring of the bearing. The bearings from FAG with this kind of sealing arrangement are designation 2ZR for e.g. 6211.2ZR. Normally these are good sealing for retaining grease in the bearing, against dust and dry dirt, less suitable against moist atmosphere and not suitable for occasional splashes or slight pressure difference.

Contact type seal

These are contact type seal design identified as RSR by FAG. The seal lip rests on the inner ring shoulder (outer diameter), which are ground parallel. The sealing lip contact pressure of RSR-seal is nearly constant, irrespective of the axial bearing clearance. Radial run out and roundness of the parallel ground seal contact surface is very good, favorably influencing the efficiency of the rubbing seal. This sealing arrangement can retain grease in the bearing, well against dusty, dirty and moist environment, suitable for pressure difference and occasional splashes. Thus this is superior sealing arrangement compared to 2ZR type. The seals of FAG bearing include metal inserts made of stainless steel over which rubber (nitrile butadiene rubber) this can withstand continuous operating temperature of 110 degree centigrade and momentarily up to 130 degree centigrade.

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Technical Information

Overall the suitability of the above two sealing arrangements for various condition of application is shown below;
2ZR Metallic shielded bearing design 2RS Rubber sealed bearing design

Suitable

Less suitable

Not suitable

Explanation of Suffixes for sealing, e.g. 6204RSR or 6204.2ZR ZR 2ZR RSR 2RSR Bearing with metallic shield on one side. Bearing with metallic shield on both sides Bearing with rubber seal on one side Bearing with rubber seal on both side

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