Aren't ceramic bearings very brittle? Why is the hardness still higher than bearing steel?
Compared to bearing steel, ceramic materials are indeed more fragile. The brittleness of ceramic bearings is caused by their structure and inherent material properties.
Although ceramic materials have high brittleness, their hardness is usually higher than that of bearing steel. This is because the lattice structure and chemical composition of ceramic materials give them higher hardness. The chemical bonds in ceramic materials are usually ionic or covalent bonds, which are stronger than the metal bonds in bearing steel, resulting in higher hardness of ceramic materials.
High hardness endows ceramic bearings with good wear resistance and wear resistance, which means they can withstand higher pressures and friction. In addition, the high hardness of ceramic materials also enables them to resist fatigue and plastic deformation.
However, the brittleness of ceramic bearings is also a factor that needs to be noted. Under external impact or excessive stress, ceramic bearings may fracture or be damaged. To overcome this problem, ceramic bearings usually adopt some design and manufacturing strategies, such as increasing the seismic performance of the bearings, adopting optimized structural forms, and selecting appropriate ceramic materials.
In summary, the advantages of ceramic bearings in hardness mainly come from their special material structure and composition, but brittleness is also a factor that needs to be properly considered and treated in applications. In practical use, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the hardness, brittleness, and other performance characteristics of ceramic bearings based on specific application and operating conditions to ensure their reliability and safety in the system.
