ESE's works engine tuner

[JdG]

Just a brain fart…

Has anyone ever tried ceramic needles or ceramic bearings? My knowledge on the subject is limited. I’ve been told by people that claim to be more knowledgeable, that ceramic bearings in general can survive almost anything, as long as they don’t overheat. Lubrication isn’t overly important because of the hardness of the bearing materials.

Overheating is the issue here and I don’t know what temperatures are lethal for the ceramic bearings.

I also don’t know if the load cases are even suitable for ceramic materials.

Just wondering.


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[pete376403]

Are the bearing races also ceramic? If the balls are super hard does that make the races wear faster?

[Frits Overmars]

Has anyone ever tried ceramic needles or ceramic bearings? My knowledge on the subject is limited. I’ve been told by people that claim to be more knowledgeable, that ceramic bearings in general can survive almost anything, as long as they don’t overheat. Lubrication isn’t overly important because of the hardness of the bearing materials. Overheating is the issue here and I don’t know what temperatures are lethal for the ceramic bearings.
I also don’t know if the load cases are even suitable for ceramic materials.

We've been using homemade hybrid ceramic crankshaft bearings (ceramic balls between steel inner and outer races) in 35.000 rpm model engines for about 30 years now; they proven to be bulletproof.
I'd love to use ceramic rollers in big end bearings too, where their much lower specific mass would be very welcome for the constantly accelerating/decelerating masses within each crankshaft revolution, but the ceramics experts are still reluctant to let me apply them.

The main problem with ceramic bearings is not overheating (ceramic parts couldn't care less) but the fact that their elastic deformation under load is about zero. In English: they're as hard as a rock .
The outer race of a bearing exhibits a curvature in the same direction as the balls or rollers in contact with it, but the curvature of the inner race bends away from that of the roller bodies, causing the contact area to become so small and the contact pressure so high that the inner race fails. The ceramic roller bodies themselves almost never fail.