CSB-LIN offers AS, CS, and ES precision shafts. How should the three shaft materials be selected, and what working conditions does each suit?

CSB-LIN provides three types of precision shafts: AS surface-hardened aluminum shafts, CS hard chrome steel shafts, and ES stainless steel 304 shafts. Custom services such as shaft end machining and drilling are available. The choice of shaft directly determines the overall life of the linear bearing, and different materials differ greatly in thermal conductivity, hardness, and corrosion resistance. AS surface-hardened aluminum shafts are compatible with LIN series plastic linear bearings. They are lightweight, have a wear-resistant hard-anodized surface, and are moderately priced. They are suitable for ordinary automation and conveying equipment but not for strongly corrosive environments. CS hard chrome steel shafts offer the best overall cost-performance. The hard chrome coating has high hardness, making them the preferred choice for most general working conditions. They are widely used in packaging, woodworking, and ordinary automation equipment. ES stainless steel 304 shafts focus on corrosion resistance and are suitable for chemical liquids, humid cleaning, and food and pharmaceutical spray conditions. However, stainless steel has poor thermal conductivity, so friction heat is not easily dissipated. Under the same load and speed conditions, bearing temperature rise is higher. During selection, the PV value needs to be derated, and a larger safety factor should be reserved. Shaft surface roughness is recommended to be controlled at Ra 0.2-0.6. Too high roughness will rapidly wear the liner; too smooth a surface may cause stick-slip and abnormal noise. Support shaft brackets include narrow low-profile and standard types, with 10 stock sizes. Many users only focus on bearing selection and ignore shaft material and surface quality. With the same set of bearings, pairing with a poor-quality shaft will greatly reduce service life. For humid cleaning food equipment, ES stainless steel shafts are preferred; for general conditions pursuing cost-performance, CS hard chrome steel shafts are preferred; for lightweight non-corrosive conditions, AS aluminum shafts are preferred. When using stainless steel shafts, the PV value must be reduced, and the load and speed parameters of carbon steel shafts cannot be directly applied.