Thrust ball bearings generally have better centripetal performance but smaller load than thrust roller bearings.

The thrust ball bearing is designed to withstand thrust load when running at high speed and consists of a gasket-like ring with a ball rolling groove. Because the ring is cushion type, thrust ball bearing is divided into flat base cushion type and adjustable thrust ball bearing Hheey center spherical cushion type. In addition, the bearing can withstand axial load, but not radial load.

Thrust roller bearings can carry large loads

Thrust roller bearings are used to bear combined axial and radial loads mainly in axial direction, but the radial load shall not exceed 55% of the axial load. Compared with other thrust roller bearings, this kind of bearing has lower friction coefficient, higher speed and self-aligning performance. Thrust cylindrical roller bearing and thrust roller bearing are suitable for the occasion of low speed, the speed of thrust tapered roller bearing is slightly higher than that of thrust cylindrical roller bearing.

Thrust cylindrical roller bearings are separated bearings, which can only bear unidirectional axial load and slight impact, and can limit the axial displacement of the shaft (or housing) in one direction, so they can be used for unidirectional axial positioning. But its carrying capacity is far greater than that of thrust ball bearings. When the roller rolls, the roller will inevitably slide on the raceway due to the different linear speeds at both ends of the roller. Therefore, the ultimate speed of this kind of bearing is lower than that of thrust ball bearing, and it is usually only suitable for low-speed operation occasions.