Overview:

Rod ends also known as heim joints or rose joints are a type of bearing used in oscillating assemblies to reduce friction. It consists of a bearing mostly spherical, in the eye-shaped head of the rod end housing with integral shank. The rod ends misalign axially and thus allows the machinery to work efficiently even under misaligned or oscillating conditions. The other advantages of rod ends are it helps in eliminating edge stress and the excessive stress caused by adjacent components within a working machinery. The rod ends can constitute of plain spherical, ball or roller bearing. The sliding surface of the bearing is mirror finished and hence it smoothly can rotate within the housing. The rod ends can be non-lubricating or self-lubricating. The non-lubricating rod ends are made up of steel and are used in applications which has shock loads, alternating heavy loads or static heavy loads. The non-lubricating rod ends are provided with grooves for lubrication. The self-lubricating rod ends which are maintenance free has a self-lubricating sliding surface in combination with steel. These rod ends are used in applications where the friction coefficient should be less and no re-lubrication facility is provided.

Drivers and Restraints:

Rod ends are widely used in automobile, aerospace, industrial machinery, construction and many other fields and mechanical devices. Compared with welding and other techniques, rod ends are a cost-effective solution. In the global bearing market, rod end bearing is a major growth factor. The characteristics of rod end joints, such as durability and less maintenance also contributes in the growth of global rod ends market.

Outlooks:

The global rod ends market can be divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). APEJ holds major share in global rod ends market due to the high number of mechanical and automotive industries in the region. In APEJ, China has the major share in global rod ends market because of increasing industry capacity and consumer consumption. Western and Eastern Europe together hold the second position in global rod ends market due to the presence of well-established automotive industries. North America also has a significant market share due to several aerospace and defence equipment manufacturing industries in this region. Japan is expected to register moderate growth rate in global rod ends market during the forecast period.