Retaining Rings

Retaining rings are placed in grooves to hold parts onto a shaft or into another part such as a housing. There are a wide variety of speciality retaining rings for special applications, but the most common are axial and radial retaining rings. You may hear these called circlips or snap rings as well. There are special tools available to help with the installation of retaining rings.

Axial Rings

Axial retaining rings (Image: Wikipedia)

These rings are installed into grooves on a shaft or in a housing by compressing or expanding them with special pliers and then slipping them over the end of the parts and releasing the pliers.

Radial Rings

Radial retaining rings (Image: Wikipedia)

Radial rings are slipped over the side of a shaft into a machined groove. There are special tools available for installation, but often a simple pair of locking pliers is used for installation and removal. A variant of these called “e-clips” is often found in assemblies as well.