Advantages and disadvantages of ceramic bearings: ceramic bearing atomic structure, non-metallic inherent covalent bond. This means that they share electrons, and this atom has strong adsorption power. For this reason, ceramic bearings offer some better performance than metal bearings. They are usually very hard, flexible and light. This means that the load is applied in conjunction with improved wear resistance characteristics when the shape changes. Ceramic bearings run without lubrication. This is because ceramic materials are not microwelded. Microwelding occurs, usually with metal, when rolling elements and raceway surface imperfections interact with another induced arc. This reduces the surface and greatly reduces the bearing life. Ceramic materials do not have such problems, making them suitable for a variety of applications that require a free lube environment. They're usually at high temperatures which means there's less thermal expansion to behave in a stable way. It takes a lot more energy to increase the bond length of a covalent bond compared to a metal ionic bond. Ceramics are non-metallic, non-iron materials. They do not corrode as metals in the same way when exposed to water and other harmful chemicals. Their high corrosion resistance allows them to perform well in wet and chemically corrosive environments. Many engineered ceramics also have low density, resulting in 'working speed' in bearings, which is improved due to low centripetal force and reduced friction. Due to the lack of free electrons in most ceramics, they are non-magnetic and excellent insulators. Studying ceramic bearings, when one might notice the first thing is that they are basically more expensive than metal. There are many reasons. There are extremely high energy and processing costs associated with the large amount of energy required to achieve the temperature required for the sintering process of high-grade materials. Because ceramics are so laborious, machining and grinding costs increase rapidly when manufacturing precision bearings. All of this must be done in a clean environment with a skilled workforce. Ceramics are incredibly sensitive to impurities in their pores, so any contaminants may cause premature failure. As the size increases, the price also increases exponentially because of the high cost and processing methods required. These include, in order to overcome the temperature gradient in the green billet, the uniform amount of pressure applied in the larger volume and the resulting machine cost required a slower sintering process. Ceramic bearings have lower bearing capacity compared to metal and are sensitive to thermal shock. Thermal shock is when a temperature gradient within a material causes a different expansion, which causes internal stress. This pressure can exceed the strength of the material to form cracks. Ceramics are also more difficult to achieve high quality surface finish. It can grind them to a radium 0.1 surface finish, which allows a P5 degree of accuracy to be achieved. However, due to recent technological progress, higher accuracy of the class is now available on Carter ceramic bearings: Ceramic bearings advantages: can be used for high temperature, insulation, corrosion resistance, no lubrication occasions. Disadvantages of ceramic bearings: difficult processing, high cost.