Sleeve bearings and extruded components

The most common bearing systems used in computing peripherals are sleeve bearings. These sleeve bearings are made from plastic, bronze, beryllium copper and similarly hard metals. Sleeve bearings are generally thick cylinders impregnated with oil, with a highly toleranced internal shaft space. The oil is carried within the sleeve by interconnecting pores which can account for up to 35% of the volume.

Sleeve bearings operate on the principle that the rod fitting within the shaft rests upon a very thin layer of lubricant as it rotates which is drawn up by capillary action. In an ideal situation the rod wouldn't make any contact with the sleeve and operate essentially silently. Without that thin layer of fluid between the rotating shaft and the sleeve, the bearing material will wear away from the friction.

Known sleeve bearings problems

When sleeve bearings fail, one of three things typically happens. Almost all failures will occur because of issues with the lubrication.

Worn sleeve bearings

This occurs when the lubrication is insufficient or the rotating component too unbalanced,. The rod begins to wear away the sleeve material to a point when the cylindrical space is no longer round. The rod will begin to vibrate producing an audible noise as it rotates. In instances such as this there is nothing that can be done, but to replace the bearing or more typically the entire fan.

Reduced fan speed with sleeve bearings

A situation can sometimes develop where the lubricant partially evaporates, or becomes more viscous then its operational tolerances will allow. It then resists the magnetic forces rotating the fan blades causing the entire assembly to rotate at a lower then normal RPM. The results of this type of soft failure can be serious if the fan is cooling an essential device like a power supply or CPU.

Complete failure

This occurs when there is an absence of lubricant, or when highly viscous lubricant overcomes the rotational force from the fans' motor. In these cases the fan will not rotate at all, and devices which need cooling may overheat. This is one of the more common failures among power supply fans because of the continual amount of dust they suck in and their elevated operating temperatures. This type of failure can also occur when improper lubricants are used which become highly viscous through age or as a reaction to operational temperatures.

Sleeve bearings from Slideways

Slideways manufactures a variety of standard and custom bearings. Some of the most common types of bearings produced by Slideways are sleeve bearings, roll end bearings, hanger bearings, metal mounted bearings, block bearings, and pulleys. We design and manufacture a large variety of components to customer specification. Quotes for custom components are generated quickly on our computer-based quotation system.

Plastic sleeve bearings manufacturing process

Plastic extrusion is the process forcing or pressing a material out through a die. The plastic is melted and mixed in a molten state in a heated barrel then extruded through the die. The material is then pulled by a haul-off through a cooling trough, where it solidifies and then is coiled.

Custom profile sleeve bearings

Custom machining sleeve bearings allows our customers to avoid the sometimes, expensive prices and high minimum runs of extruded sleeve bearings. Machined profile machined sleeve bearings are most effective for prototype and short-run applications. They can also be made to closer tolerances then extruded sleeve bearings.

For a complete overview of our capabilities please request a printed catalog or for more information on standard and custom wear components call: 1-800-298-7543 or email us at info@slideways.com.

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