I have asked bearing engineers about this in an e-mail with no
response. Surely someone here can provide the correct answer. There
are three types of rolling element thrust bearings that I am very
familiar with. The first uses balls. I understand how these work. The
second type uses tapered rollers and conical races. I understand these
too. But the third type uses flat races and straight cylindrical
rollers. The load they can take is quite high. But the rollers must
skid. Why doesn't this ruin the bearings? And why doesn't this
skidding cause high friction?
Thanks,
ERS