Static load capacity of polymer (thermoplastic) bearings

Elastic indentation, contact geometry, load capacity and stiffness of a thermoplastic sliding bearing bush from shaft diameter, bearing length, wall thickness, modulus of elasticity, radial clearance and allowable contact pressure.

✓ validated against legacyoriginal: /calculators/e2_8.htm

Static load capacity of polymer (thermoplastic) bearings — original diagram from /calculators/e2_8.htm

Shaft diameter, D1e-3 mBearing length, L1e-3 mModulus of elasticity, EMPaRadial bearing clearance, ΔR1e-3 mWall thickness, s1e-3 mMax contact pressure, pmaxMPa

Elastic indentation at center of contact, δ/s0.5 %

Semi contact axis, b/R = 2b/D0.31

Angle of contact, φ35.14 deg

Mean contact pressure, pm = F/(2bB)5.97 MPa

Average bearing pressure, F/(LD)1.84 MPa

Load capacity, F735.23 N

Stiffness, F/δ73.52 1e6 N/m

Method & references

Load capacity of polymer (thermoplastic) sliding bearings limited by compressive strength / elastic indentation, from Hertz-like contact geometry for a shaft in a resilient bush.

The computation is a literal port of the original client-side JavaScript from /calculators/e2_8.htm. Results are verified equal to the original by an automated golden-master test. No formula has been re-derived or “improved”.

Static load capacity of polymer (thermoplastic) bearings — Engineering ABC