The development of bearings

From the initial wood and stone materials to today's high-performance alloys and composite materials, technological progress has greatly promoted the application of bearings.

The development of bearings has gone through several important stages. From the initial wood and stone materials to today's high-performance alloys and composite materials, technological progress has greatly promoted the application of bearings. The earliest bearings were only used for simple mechanical devices. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the design and manufacturing technology of bearings has rapidly improved, and they have begun to be widely used in steam engines, railways and heavy machinery. After entering the 20th century, with the continuous development of automation and information technology, the functions of bearings have also evolved, and various types such as rolling bearings, sliding bearings and magnetic bearings have emerged. Modern bearings not only have to withstand high loads and high-speed operation, but also require good wear resistance, corrosion resistance and low noise characteristics. Especially in high-end manufacturing fields such as aerospace, automobiles, and wind power generation, the performance of bearings directly affects the safety and efficiency of the entire machine. Therefore, researchers and engineers continue to explore new materials, new processes and new designs to meet increasingly stringent usage requirements. In the future, with the development of intelligent manufacturing and Internet of Things technologies, the intelligence and digitization of bearings will become a new trend. Intelligent bearings can monitor the working status in real time and predict faults, thereby improving the reliability and maintenance efficiency of equipment and promoting the sustainable development of the entire machinery industry.