Bearing terminology

To better understand frequently used bearing terms, definitions are provided below and
explained with the help of drawings. A detailed collection of bearing specific terms and
definitions can be found in ISO 5593:1997: Rolling bearings - Vocabulary.

Bearing arrangement ( fig)

1 Cylindrical roller bearing
2 Four-point contact ball bearing
3 Housing
4 Shaft
5 Shaft abutment shoulder
6 Shaft diameter
7 Locking plate
8 Radial shaft seal
9 Distance ring
10 Housing bore diameter
11 Housing bore
12 Housing cover
13 Snap ring

Following terminology is used for the different parts of a rolling bearing.

 Radial bearings ( fig / fig)
1 Inner ring
2 Outer ring
3 Rolling element: ball, cylindrical roller, needle roller, tapered roller, spherical roller
4 Cage
5 Capping device
Seal – made of elastomer, contact (shown in figure) or non-contact
Shield – made of sheet steel, non-contact
6 Outer ring outside diameter
7 Inner ring bore
8 Inner ring shoulder diameter
9 Outer ring shoulder diameter
10 Snap ring groove
11 Snap ring
12 Outer ring side face
13 Seal anchorage groove
14 Outer ring raceway
15 Inner ring raceway
16 Sealing groove
17 Inner ring side face
18 Chamfer
19 Mean bearing diameter
20 Total bearing width
21 Guiding flange
22 Retaining flange
23 Contact angle

Thrust bearings ( fig)

24 Shaft washer
25 Rolling element and cage assembly
26 Housing washer
27 Housing washer with sphered seat surface
28 Sphered seat washer

Bearing data - general

Designations
Designations of rolling bearings consist of combinations of figures and/or letters, the
significance of which is not immediately apparent. Therefore, the SKF designation
system for rolling bearings will be described and the significance of the more common
supplementary designations explained. Very specific bearing types, such as fixed-section
bearings, slewing bearings or linear bearings are not covered. These designations differ
sometimes considerably from the system described here.

Bearing designations are divided into two main groups: designations for standard
bearings and designations for special bearings. Standard bearings are bearings that
normally have standardized dimensions, whereas special bearings have special
dimensions dictated by customer demands. These customized bearings are also referred
to as "drawing number" bearings and they will not be covered in detail in this section.

The complete designation may consist of a basic designation with or without one or more

supplementary designations ( fig).

The complete bearing designation, i.e. the basic designation with supplementary
designations is always marked on the bearing package, whereas the designation marked
on the bearing may sometimes be incomplete, e.g. for manufacturing reasons.
Basic designations identify the

– type
– basic design
– standard boundary dimensions

of a bearing. Supplementary designations identify

– bearing components and/or

– variants having a design and/or feature(s) that differ in some respect from the basic
design.
Supplementary designations may precede the basic designation (prefixes) or follow it
(suffixes). Where several supplementary designations are used to identify a given

bearing, they are always written in a given order ( fig).

The list of supplementary designations presented in the following is not exhaustive, but
includes those most commonly used.

Designations - Basic designations

All SKF standard bearings have a characteristic basic designation, which generally
consists of 3, 4 or 5 figures, or a combination of letters and figures. The design of the
system used for almost all standard ball and roller bearing types is shown schematically

in diagram 1. The figures and combinations of letters and figures have the following
meaning:

– The first figure or the first letter or combination of letters identifies the bearing type; the
 actual bearing type can be seen from the presentation ( diagram 1).
– The following two figures identify the ISO Dimension Series; the first figure indicates
the Width or Height Series (dimensions B, T or H respectively) and the second the
Diameter Series (dimension D).
– The last two figures of the basic designation give the size code of the bearing; when
multiplied by 5, the bore diameter in millimetres is obtained.

But there is no rule without some exceptions. The most important ones in the bearing
designation system are listed below.

1. In a few cases the figure for the bearing type and/or the first figure of the Dimension

Series identification is omitted. These figures are given in brackets in diagram 1.

2. For bearings having a bore diameter smaller than 10 mm or equal to or greater than
500 mm, the bore diameter is generally given in millimetres and is not coded. The size
identification is separated from the rest of the bearing designation by an oblique stroke,
e.g. 618/8 (d = 8 mm) or 511/530 (d = 530 mm).
This is also true of standard bearings according to ISO 15:1998 that have bore
diameters of 22, 28 or 32 mm, e.g. 62/22 (d = 22 mm).
3. Bearings with bore diameters of 10, 12, 15 and 17 mm have the following size code
identifications:
00 = 10 mm
01 = 12 mm
02 = 15 mm
03 = 17 mm
4. For some smaller bearings having a bore diameter below 10 mm, such as deep groove,
self-aligning and angular contact ball bearings, the bore diameter is also given in
millimetres (uncoded) but is not separated from the series designation by an oblique
stroke, e.g. 629 or 129 (d = 9 mm).
5. Bore diameters that deviate from the standard bore diameter of a bearing have always
been given uncoded, in millimetres with up to three decimal places. This bore diameter
identification is part of the basic designation and is separated from the basic
designation by an oblique stroke, e.g. 6202/15.875 (d = 15,875 mm = 5/8 in).

Series designations
Each standard bearing belongs to a given bearing series, which is identified by the basic
designation without the size identification. Series designations often include a suffix A,
B, C, D or E or a combination of these letters e.g. CA. These are used to identify
differences in internal design, e.g. contact angle.

The most common series designations are shown in diagram 1 above the bearing
sketches. The figures in brackets are not included in the series designation.
 Diagram 1

Designations - Basic designations - Special bearings

The basic designation of special bearings is usually the number of the drawing of the
bearing. These Drawing Numbers are usually 6 or 7-figure numbers and do not generally
give any indication of the bearing type, size or design.

Bearings, the design of which has been modified from the original design, often have a
suffix A to E or a combination of these letters, e.g. AB, added to the original Drawing No.
The meaning of these suffixes is specific to the actual bearing and reference must be
made to the actual drawing.

More recently, Drawing Numbers have been prefixed by Bxxx, where B stands for
bearing and the other three positions identify the bearing type. In some cases the fourth
letter is omitted. Even more recently four figure numbers preceded by a prefix identifying
the bearing type and separated from it by a hyphen, e.g. BB1-3001 have been introduced
instead of the 6 or 7-figure Drawing Numbers.

Designations - Identification of bearing type

0 Double row angular contact ball bearings
1 Self-aligning ball bearings
2 Spherical roller bearings, spherical roller thrust bearings
3 Tapered roller bearings
4 Double row deep groove ball bearings
5 Thrust ball bearings
6 Single row deep groove ball bearings
7 Single row angular contact ball bearings
8 Cylindrical roller thrust bearings

BK Drawn cup needle roller bearings with closed end

C CARB toroidal roller bearings
HK Drawn cup needle roller bearings with open ends
K Needle roller and cage thrust assemblies
N Cylindrical roller bearings
A second and sometimes a third letter are used to identify the configuration of the
flanges, e.g. NJ, NU, NUP; double or multi-row cylindrical roller bearing
designations always start with NN.
NA Needle roller bearings with boundary dimensions to ISO 15
NK Needle roller bearings
QJ Four-point contact ball bearings
T Tapered roller bearings, a few metric sizes to ISO 355-1977
Inch tapered roller bearings with dimensions to an ABMA series are designated
according to a different system to ANSI-ABMA Standard 19 (see also under prefix
K-)

Designations - Supplementary designations - Prefixes

Prefixes are used to identify components of a bearing and are usually then followed by
the designation of the complete bearing, or to avoid confusion with other bearing
designations. For example they are used in front of designations for tapered roller
bearings according to a system described in ANSI/ABMA Standard 19 for
(predominantly) inch bearings.

AR- Ball or roller and cage assembly

E2. SKF Energy Efficient bearings
GS Housing washer of a cylindrical roller thrust bearing
IR- Inner ring of radial bearing
K Cylindrical roller and cage thrust assembly
K- Inner ring with roller and cage assembly (cone) or outer ring (cup) of inch tapered
roller bearing belonging to an ABMA standard series
L Separate inner or outer ring of a separable bearing
OR- Outer ring of radial bearing
R Inner or outer ring with roller (and cage) assembly of a separable bearing
W Stainless steel deep groove ball bearing
WF Deep groove ball bearing of stainless steel with external flange on outer ring
WS Shaft washer of a cylindrical roller thrust bearing
ZE Bearing with SensorMount® feature