Cage material and heat treatment

When the bearing is working, especially at high-speed rotation, the cage has to withstand great centrifugal force, impact and vibration, large sliding friction, and generate a lot of heat. Therefore, the material is required to have good thermal conductivity, good wear resistance, small friction coefficient, small specific gravity, certain strength, expansion coefficient similar to the rolling element, and good processing performance. There are also special requirements for special purpose bearing cages, such as high temperature resistance. At present, the commonly used cage materials include high-quality low-carbon steel (08, 10, 08F, 10F), brass, stainless steel, spring steel, alloy steel, phenolic tape, plastic, etc.
The heat treatment of the cage is mainly used for stamping the cage, and it is mostly heat treatment between processes to restore the plasticity of the material, because the cage will produce serious work hardening and internal stress during processing. This kind of heat treatment includes: high-quality carbon sheet steel cold stamping cage recrystallization annealing (heated to about 600℃, heat preservation for 2~3h, furnace cooling); brass strip cold stamping cage recrystallization annealing (heating to 600~650℃, Heat preservation for 30min, air cooling or water cooling); stainless steel strip cold stamping softening treatment, etc.