Provided are a sintered ceramic and a ceramic sphere which are inhibited from suffering surface peeling due to fatigue resulting from repetitions of loading and can attain an improvement in dimensional accuracy when subjected to surface processing and which have excellent wear resistance and durability.

Provided are a sintered ceramic and a ceramic sphere which are inhibited from suffering surface peeling due to fatigue resulting from repetitions of loading and can attain an improvement in dimensional accuracy when subjected to surface processing and which have excellent wear resistance and durability.

A bearing steel composition contains 0.1 to 0.2 wt % C, 3.25 to 4.25 wt % Cr, 9.5 to 11.5 wt % Mo, 5.75 to 6.75 wt % W, 1.5 to 2.5 wt % V, and 2.5 to 3.5 wt % Ni. A bearing component, such as a rolling element, an inner race or outer race, is formed from the bearing steel composition, for example, by a powder metallurgical technique and then is subjected to a case hardening treatment. The bearing component may have a microstructure composed of martensite, retained austenite and at least one of carbides and/or carbonitrides. The carbon level at the surface of the bearing component may be 0.5 to 1.1 wt %.

A bearing assembly for use in a blood pump includes a first component that has a convex bearing surface and a first outer surface proximate the convex bearing surface. The bearing assembly includes a second component that a concave bearing surface and a second outer surface proximate the concave bearing surface, the concave bearing surface being configured to receive the convex bearing surface. A plurality of grooves are defined through the convex bearing surface and first outer surface or through the concave bearing surface and the second outer surface.

A bearing assembly for use in a blood pump includes a first component that has a convex bearing surface and a first outer surface proximate the convex bearing surface. The bearing assembly includes a second component that a concave bearing surface and a second outer surface proximate the concave bearing surface, the concave bearing surface being configured to receive the convex bearing surface. A plurality of grooves are defined through the convex bearing surface and first outer surface or through the concave bearing surface and the second outer surface.

A bearing assembly includes a roller bearing unit, an inner race and an outer race. The roller bearing unit is formed of polycrystalline super-hard material having a mean mass density of at most 4.5 g/cm.sup.3 and a volume-weighted arithmetic mean thermal conductivity of at least 100 W/m.Math.K.

A shock absorbing radial bearing assembly for use with a shaft, having an inner ring including an inner race, an inner raceway, and a shock absorber element disposed therebetween, the inner ring being axially fixed relative to the shaft, an outer ring defining an outer raceway, and a plurality of roller elements disposed between the inner ring and the outer ring, each roller element being in rolling contact with the inner raceway and the outer raceway, wherein the inner ring is in direct contact with the shaft and has a circular cross-section as taken in a plane perpendicular to a longitudinal center axis of the shaft.

A load-variable rolling bearing includes: an outer ring having an outer ring raceway surface with spherical surface contact portions having concave arch sections and a variable contact portion having a shape of a cylinder in such a manner as to be adjacent to the spherical surface contact portions in an axial direction of the spherical surface contact portions; an inner ring having an inner ring raceway surface with spherical surface contact portions having concave arch sections and a variable contact portion having a shape of a cylinder in such a manner as to be adjacent to the spherical surface contact portions in an axial direction of the spherical surface contact portions; and a plurality of rolling elements each having a cylindrical variable contact portion and spherical surface portions formed with convex spherical surfaces on both sides of the variable contact portion.

A load-variable rolling bearing includes: an outer ring having an outer ring raceway surface with spherical surface contact portions having concave arch sections and a variable contact portion having a shape of a cylinder in such a manner as to be adjacent to the spherical surface contact portions in an axial direction of the spherical surface contact portions; an inner ring having an inner ring raceway surface with spherical surface contact portions having concave arch sections and a variable contact portion having a shape of a cylinder in such a manner as to be adjacent to the spherical surface contact portions in an axial direction of the spherical surface contact portions; and a plurality of rolling elements each having a cylindrical variable contact portion and spherical surface portions formed with convex spherical surfaces on both sides of the variable contact portion.

Systems and methods are provided for a compound bearing assembly including an offset coupler supporting an inner bearing and an outer bearing for distributing a rotational loading of the compound bearing assembly. In some embodiments, at least one of the bearings comprises a bearing cage with a plurality of elongated openings for receiving a respective plurality of balls. The compound bearing assembly is configured to support a drive shaft of a supercharger system of a vehicle or some other rotational system.