Bearings are classified according to:
- Design
- Dominant direction of transmitted forces
Classification according to design:
- Rolling bearings contain rolling elements – balls, cylindrical rollers, spherical rollers, needle rollers, tapered rollers.
- Plain bearings are those without rolling elements
Classification according to the dominant direction of transmitted forces:
- Radial bearings – most forces act perpendicular to the axis of rotation
- Thrust bearings – most forces act in the direction of the rotation axis