Bearing surface

A bearing surface in mechanical engineering is the area of contact between two objects.

It usually is used in reference to bolted joints and bearings, but can be applied to a wide variety of engineering applications.

The choice of bearing surface depends on the application, load, speed, and operating conditions, and the design must be able to withstand high loads, resist wear and corrosion, and operate at high speeds.

On a screw, the bearing area loosely refers to the underside of the head.

[2] For a cylindrical bearing, it is the projected area perpendicular to the applied force.

The bearing surface describes the contact area between two objects used as datum . It is often the underside of a screw head (male seat, marked A) or a flat at the end of the screw thread (female seat, marked B).