Introduction

“Rocker” bearings or “built-up” bearings are stout mechanical bearings using pins or “rockers” to permit rotation and translation (movement). (See Figure 1 for an example of a pin-type expansion bearing.)

These bearings were once used extensively, but with more modern bearing designs, they are not as common today.

However, these stout bearings are still used extensively on railroad structures due to their very durable nature and high impact load-carrying capabilities.

A moderate amount of periodic maintenance is required for this style of bearing in order to keep them in good working order.