Ceramic ball bearings are now being used at every conceivable place
Alumina ball bearings are now being used at every conceivable place instead of the regular ball bearings. Ceramic is being the material used in most of the place where intense heat is generated. Friction is general caused by two surfaces being rubbed against each other which causes resistance and generates heat. Scientists discovered the wheel and applied that theory of a single point of contact which caused the less surface area to be in contact and that means less resistance.
That said the ball bearings were invented which were like two rolling surfaces which had the inner and the outer sleeve separated by Raschig Ring. These steel balls transfer the weight from the outer sleeve to inner sleeve. The balls play a very important role when it comes to ball bearings.
The general issue with the steel ball bearings was that they generated intense heat and most of the steel ball bearings either spun off a lot of particles which destroyed the lubricant or interfere with the normal functioning of the ceramic ball. To overcome this problem ceramic as a material was suggested which generally was used in the space shuttles when they entered the earth's atmosphere.