Starting and rolling resistance of wheels and castors

When starting and continuing to roll, mechanical resistance through thrust and pressure forces must be overcome. These are called starting resistance and rolling resistance, they are explained as follows:

The starting resistance must be overcome in order to set a stationary wheel in rolling motion.

The rolling resistance must be overcome in order to keep a rolling vehicle in constant motion.

The strength of the resistances depends on the following factors:

wheel bearing

wheel material

wheel diameter

Burden

tread shape

roll unloading

road surface.

temperature

elasticity

Every single factor contributes to whether a piece of equipment is easy or difficult to move. In the low load range, the rolling resistance is mostly irrelevant, only in the medium and heavy load range do starting and rolling resistance become extremely important selection criteria.

Diagrams 2.0 “Rolling resistance of wheel bearings” and 2.1 “Rolling resistance of wheel materials” can be seen below. Here we show you clearly the two factors that have the greatest influence on the strength of the rolling resistance.