How do automotive gearbox bearings cope with high loads and high temperatures?

The main function of automobile gearbox bearings is to support rotating parts, reduce friction, and ensure smooth operation between various parts. However, during the driving process of the car, especially when driving at high speed and under heavy load, gearbox bearings often face severe tests of high load and high temperature. The material selection of bearings plays a decisive role in coping with high load and high temperature environments. Ordinary bearing materials may lose their original strength and hardness at high temperatures, causing deformation or increased wear of the bearings. Therefore, manufacturers usually choose alloy materials with better high temperature resistance and high load capacity, such as high carbon steel, chrome steel or stainless steel. These materials can maintain good hardness and wear resistance at high temperatures, ensuring that the bearings can also operate stably under high load conditions. The design and structure of the bearing are also the key to ensuring its normal operation under high load and high temperature environments. Many automobile gearbox bearings use rolling bearing structures, including ball, roller and other forms. These designs reduce local contact pressure by dispersing the load, enabling the bearings to better cope with high load working conditions. In addition, precision machining and surface treatment inside the bearing, such as hardening, also help to improve its fatigue resistance and high temperature resistance, and reduce softening and wear of bearing materials caused by high temperature. In order to further improve the performance of bearings under high load and high temperature environment, the lubrication system of bearings is crucial. Under high temperature environment, the viscosity of lubricating oil tends to change, reducing its lubrication effect. Therefore, manufacturers usually choose lubricating oil or grease with good high temperature stability to ensure that the bearings are always fully lubricated during operation and reduce friction and wear. In addition, regular replacement and inspection of lubricating oil are also important measures to keep bearings in good working condition. Through effective lubrication, bearings can maintain a lower operating temperature under high load and high temperature conditions, thereby extending their service life.
Under high load and high temperature environment, the thermal expansion of bearings is also a factor that needs attention. Different materials will expand to different degrees when the temperature rises, which may cause the bearings to loosen or deform during operation. Therefore, when designing bearings, it is particularly important to consider the thermal expansion coefficient of the material and the heat treatment process of the bearing. Through reasonable design and processing, abnormal operation caused by thermal expansion can be effectively avoided, ensuring that the bearings can still maintain stable working performance in an environment with large temperature changes.