Rolling-Contact Bearings

Support shaft loads

Two major types
Sliding: Sleeve, oil, Journal bearing
High starting friction, Maintenance, Lower friction
at higher speeds, high loads at high speeds
Rolling contact
Low Starting friction, Low Maintenance, High loads
at low speeds, low cost
Operating Range
Rolling Bearing
Deep-groove Ball Bearing
Most widely used, low load capacity than roller
bearings but higher speeds are possible.
Can support moderate axial loads along with
radial loads
Cylindrical Roller Bearings
Can support large radial loads. Allow some freedom of axial
location. Use cylindrical roller bearing at one end with deep
groove roller bearing at other
Tapered roller bearings
Well suited to support combined radial and axial
loads. Have to be mounted in pair as axial load will
be generated
Angular contact Bearings
These bearings accommodate axial loads in one direction as well as
radial loads. Axial load is required to maintain contact between the
raceways and the balls so these bearings are usually fitted in pairs,
either face to face or back to back.
Needle Bearing
Needle bearings use long thin rollers. This results
in a very compact bearing with a very high load
carrying capacity that can also run at high speed.
Self Aligning Bearings
Allow some angular misalignment of the shaft. The bearing consists of
a double row of ball bearings in a cage running on a circumferential
inner raceway. The outer raceway is spherically ground to enable some
angular float. The load carrying capacity is small and only very light
axial loads are feasible as there is no location of the balls in the outer
raceway
Self Aligning Spherical Roller
Bearings
Allow some angular misalignment of the shaft and can accommodate
axial loads in both directions. The bearing consists of a double row of
rollers in a cage running on a spherically ground outer raceway. The
self aligning capability plus the ability to accommodate combined loads
make this a popular bearing however they are not generally used
where the overall diameter exceeds 100mm
Thrust Ball Bearings
support only axial loads acting in one direction. Shaft
speeds must be low otherwise the centrifugal force on the
bearing becomes unacceptable. It is often preferable to use
angular contact bearings instead.
Bearing Failure
Bearings fail due to contact fatigue. Analysis of the contact
is more complicated than Hertz analysis hence there are no
formulae. Utilize an experimental approach to predict life at
a certain level of load
Bearing Life Reliability
Test a large group of bearings at a given load and count
the cycles required for failure of each bearing
This failure data is fitted by Weibull distribution
For a given load, you can estimate the reliability for a
particular life, L
x x b
R ( x) exp 0

x0
x L / L10
For a given reliability life can
be calculated as:

L L10 x0 x0 ln 1/ R b
1

Bearing Failure
No stress analysis as the loading is complicated
Use experiments and probability analysis to estimate the
life of bearings
Manufacturers test a group of bearings at a fixed radial
load, F

Right Skewed Data Use weibull statistics to fit data

No of bearing failure

Find the no of cycles at

which 10% of bearings
have failed
Life of bearings with an
Reliability of 90%

L
No of cycles
 Repeat this for a number of loads and you can generate
the following curve
From the plot, you can make the following observation
FL1/ a constant
3 for ball bearings
a
10/3 for roller bearings
Log F, (load)

So, now you only need one load and associated

no of cycles to calculate the no of cycles
corresponding to another load for the same reliability
1 F2 L2
F1L1/ a 1/ a

Manufacturers quote a rating load, C10 for a

standard number of cycles like a million revolutions
(or in the case of Timken company 90 million cycles)

No of cycles for 10% We can use this rating to estimate life for any other loads
survival FD LD nD 60
1/ a
10 F L
C10 L1/ a 1/ a

Where LD is the desired life in hours and

nD is the desired speed rev/min
Relating load, life and reliability
Designer requirement is to find a bearing for a
design load, FD, Reliability RD, and Life, LD
The bearings are specified in terms of rating loads
What is a suitable rating load, C10, for this situation
Load Application Factor
Depending on application the design load is increased to
account for load variations (Table 11-5)

Type of application Load Factor

Precision Gearing 1.0-1.1

Commercial Gearing 1.1-1.3
Applications with poor bearing seals 1.2
Machinery with no impact load 1.0-1.2
Machinery with light impact load 1.2- 1.5
Machinery with moderate impact load 1.5 3.0
Problem 11-1: A certain applications requires a bearing with design life of 30000 hours.
The radial load is 1.898 kN and an application factor of 1.2 is appropriate. The reliability
goal is 0.90. Find the multiple of rating life required, xD and the catalog rating C10 with
which to enter a bearing table. Choose a 02-series deep-groove ball bearing from table
11-2, and estimate the reliability in use
Given: xo= 0.02;=4.459; b=1.483

Solution:
the design life xD, in multiples of rating life is

L1/Da
C10 FD
1/ a
L
10 x x ln 1/ R
0 0 D
1/ b 1/ a
 L1/Da
C10 FD
1/ a
L
10 x x ln 1/ R
0 0 D
1/ b 1/ a

Re arranging we get
a

b

D
x0
L F

D
L10 C10
Rd exp
x0


Bearing design
Based on radial load, life and reliability requirements
Calculate dynamic bearing rating load (C10)

Look up the catalogue for a suitable bearing.

Reliability of Bearing Pair
Shafts are usually supported by two bearings
Probability theory indicates that reliability of the pairs as
a whole is product of their individual reliabilities
R pair RA RB ; Where RA and RB are reliability of individual bearings
How does this modify the bearing selection process that we discussed?
To achieve a reliability of R for the bearing pair.
The reliability requirement should be R for each bearing
In problem 11-1, that we solved last time.
Our final selection had a reliability of 0.919
If two such bearings are used to support shaft
the reliability of bearing pair will be 0.844
Selection Process
According to ABMA standards, the bearings are
represented by two numbers
The first number indicates width (0 to 6)
Second number indicates OD (0,1, 2, 3, 4 ..)

For a given bore, there are a number of possible choices

These numbers do not reveal actual sizes (Table 11-2)
Problem 11-10: For the shaft shown in figure, select an angular contact
bearing for location O and a straight roller bearing at location B. The
forces exerted at the bearings are Ro=-387j+467k lbf, and at B,
RB=316j+1615k lbf. The shaft rotates at 480 rev/min. Specify the
bearings required, using an load application factor of 1.4, a desired life
of 50 000 h and combined reliability goal of 0.90
Given: xo= 0.02;=4.459; b=1.483
Solution

(50000)(480)(60)
1/ 3
L1/Da
C10 FD 850
1/ a
L
10 x x ln 1/ R
0 0 D
1/ b 1/ a
10
6
1/ 3
0.02 4.439 ln 1/ 0.95
1/1.483

C10 11262lbf or 50.1 kN
Select a 02-60 mm angular-contact ball bearing with a basic load rating of 55.9 kN.

(50000)(480)(60)
3/10
L1/Da
C10 FD 2304
L 1/ a
10 x0 x0 ln 1/ RD
1/ b 1/ a
10 6
3/10
0.02 4.439 ln 1/ 0.95
1/1.483

C10 23576 lbf or 104.9 kN
Select a 02-80 mm cylindrical roller or a 03-60 mm cylindrical roller. The 03-series roller
has the same bore as the 02-series ball bearing
Combined Radial and Thrust Loading
Ball bearings can withstand combined radial and thrust loadings.
In order to select a bearing for combined loadings, we calculate an equivalent
load that will cause the same amount of damage as the combined load
As before, the equivalent load is determined from fitting experimental
observations
FD Fe XFr YFa
X , Y are functions of (static load capacity, Co ; Fa ; e)
Static load capacity is the static load which will cause onset
of plastic deformation in bearings

Fe/Fr
Static load capacity is specified along with dynamic load capacity
in catalogues
e is the reference value depends on static load capacity and Fa e
and is used to determine X and Y
To calucate equivalent load
Step 1: Calculate Fa / C0
Step 2: :Read e from Table 11-1
Step 3: Calculate X and Y
Fa/Fr;
If Fa / Fr e X 1; Y 0 Fe Fr
else If Fa / Fr e Lookup X and Y from table 11-1 Fe XFr YFa
Problem 11-6: Select an 02 series ball bearing carrying axial load =4 kN and radial load
of 8 kN. The desired life is 5000 h at 900 rev/min. What is the dynamic load rating that
should be used in selecting a bearing for reliability of 0.90
Solution
Start with an initial choice of a 02-series ball bearing from manufacturer #2, having a
service factor of 1. For Fr = 8 kN and for the first trial ignore Fa = 4 kN
(5000)(900)(60)
1/ 3
L1/Da
C10 FD 8 51.8kN
1/ a
L
10 x x ln 1/ R
0 0 D
1/ b 1/ a
10
6
1/ 3
0.02 4.439 ln 1/ 0.90
1/1.483

Trial #1: From Table (11-2) make a tentative selection of a deep-groove 02-70 mm with
C0 = 37.5 kN; C10=61.8 kN

(5000)(900)(60)
1/ 3
L1/Da
C10 FD 10.32
L1/ a
10 x x ln 1/ R
0 0 D
1/ b 1/ a
10
6
1/ 3
0.02 4.439 ln 1/ 0.90
1/1.483

66.7 kN ( > 61.8 kN C10 rating of the chosen bearing)
Trial #2: From Table 11-2 choose a 02-80 mm having C10 = 70.2 and C0 = 45.0.
Check:

(5000)(900)(60)
1/ 3
L1/Da
C10 FD 10.6
1/ a
L
10 x0 x0 ln 1/ RD
1/ b 1/ a
10
6
1/ 3
0.02 4.439 ln 1/ 0.90
1/1.483

68.51 kN (< 70.2 kN C10 rating of the chosen bearing)