I sort of had an idea when all the others explained abou the inner ring and the outer ring. I had seen it happen in real life through experiments and thought the inner ring was suppossed to provide resistance to hold the axle in place and thus provide stability. Your explanation was very helpful and cleared all the misconceptions I had. The problem we are facing is that we cant find angular contact bearings with an inner diameter of 2m.m. I contacted Boca bearings if they could custom make them for us but they said the smallest they can go is 6m.m We are trying very hard to get a hold of angular contact bearings preferrably made out of ceramic. With the inner ring sized at anywhere between 2 and 3m.m. Ordering 20 of anytype of ceramic bearings means a lot of cost as they cost atleast $30 that is after the discount we get because we are a sponsored team.Smokes wrote:Right let get back to some basic geometry
I rpm of the inner race has a shorter circumerance than 1 rpm of the outer race. Thus the ball will travel less distance
A little bit about bearing friction
Bearing friction is dependant on the pressure created by the tolerance fit bettween the bore and the shaft the bearing is used to support. These tolerances are use to gurauntee that the races don't slip on the bore or the shaft when the parts expand and contract.They are also there to stop premature bearing failure due to axial radial movement and vibration.
For F1 i schools you need to use a finger press fit which very gently holds the bearing in place. please look at 1/12th RC race car front wheel.
An live axle supported by a bearing will require some method of controlling the axial movement of the shaft in bearing a nut or circlips. Which is stronger but longer. Than using a a dead axle with the bearings in the wheels. which shorter and slightly lighter.
To Prepare bearings for RC competions use. First make sure everthing is clean any dust of drit will ruin the prep work
Remove the bearing seals and a soak the bearings in brake cleaner to remove the OEM lubricant.
Then let the bearings dry out as brake cleaner is a solvent. Then use a lubricant I found, finish line dry chain lube the best. Then place the bearing on the axle and spin the excess lube out, by spinning the outer race. Wipe the bearing dry and put them in the parts. Do not refit the seals as they are a source of friction
You will find some bearing are better than others due transportating damage manufacturing tolerances etc. So i would advise you to buy say 20 bearings and pick the best of the bunch i.e the ones that spin the longest.
For sizing bearing it is usally based on the radial load. Using the smallest size possible will reduce the rotating mass and hence reduce the amount of energy used to turn the wheels though this is still dependant on load. idealy you should use two bearings per an axle to minimise radial movement