Thrust Ball Bearing (parametric CAD)
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A parametric model for a 3D printable thrust ball bearing, to be used as is or integrated in your own designs!
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Model information
- Source
- Printables
- Category
- Engineering
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Thrust Ball Bearing
A thrust ball bearing for all your axial load carrying needs. Only able to support axial forces (i.e. a turntable or similar). Radial forces will bring this bearing apart as there is no locking mechanism. However, it is VERY GOOD at its job (5 metal ball can hold 10kg comfortably).
There are a LOT of bearing designs for 3D print out there. However, most do not provide the CAD files to customize them for your own purposes. So, I remade the common designs in FreeCAD, fully parametrized so you and I can adapt the bearings to our own designs.
Unlike the deep groove ball bearing (https://www.printables.com/model/1689128-deep-groove-ball-bearing-parametric-cad) the 3D printed version of the thrust bearing has less of carrying capacity penalty vs the metal vesionn. However;
At a high RPM, friction will eventually melt the plastic and leave you with a big mess.
If radial forces due to mass unbalance do not break the bearing apart before that
Lubricating the bearing will make it work smoother and quieter. Do not use petroleum-based lubricants as those usually attack most plastics. (Personally I have used WD-40 and although it is not technically a lubricant it works well enough even if it does not last as long. I have seen stated lithium greases are great for 3D print lubrication, but I can't swear by it.)
If you did not read the subpoint: do NOT use this type of bearing as is with radial forces involved, nor 3D printed nor commercial metal ones, they are not designed for this. (You can combine a deep groove ball bearing to constraint the axial forces).
You can print standalone bearings and use them as is, But I think the better use of this model is to integrate the bearing itself in more complex designs (it will also save filament and thus weight). I plan to use metal balls as the rolling element (you can get 100s for really cheap), you can try to 3D print the balls as well, but plastic-on-plastic contact will have higher friction.
Print settings
VERY IMPORTANT: Put the Quality > Seam setting as random on the top and bottom races! or you will get an annoying bump in a single place every rotation
Material | PLA, PETG, anything non-flexible |
|---|---|
Layer height | 0.16mm or lower |
Seam | Random on races, aligned on retainer |
Nozzle | 0.4mm is perfectly fine |
How to use the CAD model
Open the FCStd file in FreeCAD (version 1.1 or newer). You can change the parameters of the model clicking the VarSet and adjusting the values, the model should update automatically (if not, press F5). If the model break (will happen if you put absurd values, like inner diameter larger than the outer), you can just Ctrl+Z and try again.
Parameter | Example value (51105 bearing) | Description |
|---|---|---|
Bearing Height | 11 mm | How thick the bearing should be. Keep it at least >= Ball diameter + 2 mm. |
Bearing Inner Diameter | 25 mm | The nominal diameter of the hole of the bearing. Do not add extra tolerance here. |
Bearing Outer Diameter | 42 mm | The outer diameter of the bearing. |
Ball Diameter | 5 mm | The nominal diameter of the rolling elements. |
Ball Count | 13 | The number of balls in the bearing. |
Ball Tolerance | 0.15 mm | The margin for the races to accomodate the balls, a bigger value will make the retainer ring more loose. Best between 0.1 and 0.2 mm. |
Hole Tolerance | 0.2 mm | The tolerance for the inner hole, adjust as needed, but at minimum keep it as 0.1 mm. |
If you hover over the parameter name in FreeCAD, I have included a small description of what each parameter does, and in some case the optimum values.
When the bearing is ready, export the bodies (Select all the objects with Ctrl+click, then File > Export) as 3mf or stl, and happy printing!
Assembly of the bearing
Simply put a ball in each of the slots of the bearing, with the default tolerance the cage will barely hold onto the ball. The ball will pop off with little force, but that is okay (it will be constrained by the races once assembled).