Journal bearing

From WOI Encyclopedia Italia

A bogie from a railroad car. This one uses journal bearings.
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A bogie from a railroad car. This one uses journal bearings.

A journal bearing is a simple bearing in which a shaft, or "journal", rotates in the bearing with a layer of oil or grease separating the two parts through fluid dynamic effects. The shaft and jouranl are generally both simple polished cylinders with lubricant filling the gap. Rather than the lubricant just "reducing friction" between the surfaces, letting one slide more easily against the other, the lubricant is thick enough that, once rotating, the surface do not come in contact at all.

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