Hydrodynamic or rolling element?  At what loads? Lubrication method?

It will be spinning on the outside of a car rim. So technically " NO load". It would be self lubricating. Also what would be the quitest bearing design.

Guess no one knows about bearings here...I'll try another forum.

You have to give us more before we can help!

20" @ 2,000 rpm.  "no load" ???  Um, then you don't need a bearing...

Are you trying to hang something in the center of the wheel, or hold something near the outside, OD or ID, in side or outside, is wheel attached from one side, do you have access to the center of the wheel, can this thing be ugly or is it aesthetic, does it have to survive tire chains and ice build up in the winter, how about running into curbs when parking?  Does the wheel steer? How will you attach this to the rim?

You'll find that, in general, wheels and most rotating things have bearings near the center at the smallest diameter possible for VERY good reasons that will not change with new materials.

Now, if you were to build a linear motor wrapped around the rim, that would be interesting, but very difficult to weatherproof.

Get off your chair and look at the lazy suzi style bearing most office chairs have. You can change that many ways. Delrin ball stamp steel race and track. Delrin/plastic race/track steel balls. Dove tail jibs and runs. Spoked inners or flange/clamped to whatever mounted. Air/fluid bearing after start. Theres always a way.
Luck
Rentapen

This design is purely for asthetics. As soon as the car starts to move the bearing will rotate along with the rim. Once the car has stopped the rim "lip" will keep spinning. It will have to be some kind of dove tale design (I think). I wish this forum aloud you to post a picture or I would. The only design parameters would have to be concentric up to 140 mph and fairly quiet.

You can post images:

[*img http://www.mysite.com/myimage.xxx]

Just delete the asterix ;)



There you go, post your images !

FrenchCAD
Université Joseph FOURIER
Département Génie Mécanique
Grenoble - France
cyril.guichard@wanadoo.fr

I would suggest some type of teflon elements be
considered.  A pancake style might work, but what
ever, because of the rpm and sound requirements,
I would think it would want to be very thin and
simple.  If a teflon ring was designed and had
several metal elements imbedded in its perifery
to give it centrifical force to keep it spinning,
I think this would work.  Sorry about the first
blank post. You might only need a teflon ring
formed to fit over on inside a small flange.  

There are turntable bearings available to do exactly what you describe. I believe Kaydon makes a unit which might fit.
Later on we may discuss the engineering problems you will have to overcome to make this actually work. I figure 20 inch wheel dia plus an allowance for tire sidewall works out to about 178 mph?

Crashj 'nice nice' Johnson