Application Examples

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Silicon nitride ceramic bearing balls with excellent mechanical properties for space shuttles

Toshiba Materials Co., Ltd. has collaboratively developed the world's first fine ceramics bearings with Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. and successfully put them to practical use. With excellent properties of high strength, high stiffness and high abrasion resistance, the silicon nitride bearing balls are widely distributed.

Ceramic bearings have excellent properties such as light weight, high stiffness, anti-seizing and heat resistance compared to conventional steel bearings. In other words, they are high-performance, high-reliability bearings.

In the development stage of silicon nitride ceramics for such bearing balls with higher mechanical properties, tremendous efforts were made from every viewpoint, namely raw materials control, process designing, additives selection to control the microstructure that ensures high mechanical properties. Among others, bearing balls for space use and automobile use are required to have serviceability in a wider temperature range and higher reliability. We have not yet ceased making efforts to meet these advanced requirements.

Conventional metallic ball bearings have limitations when they are applied to environmentally conscious automobiles or to space shuttles.

Silicon nitride fine ceramics with excellent properties, high strength, high stiffness and high abrasion resistance, of Toshiba Materials Co., Ltd. have made it possible to produce high-performance, high-reliability bearings.

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