Lecture 6
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Aminul Islam Khan
Assistant Professor of Teaching, Mechanical Engineering
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Bearing Nomenclature
Bearings are manufactured to take pure radial loads, pure thrust loads, or a combination
of the two kinds of loads
Nomenclature of a ball bearing
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Ball Bearing Types
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Roller Bearing Types
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Bearing Life
• Failure criterion used by Timken Company laboratories is the spalling or pitting of
an area of 0.01 𝑖𝑛2 .
Rated life
Defined as the number of revolutions (or hours at a constant speed) that 90
percent of a group of bearings will achieve or exceed before the failure criterion
develops
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Bearing Life
• Minimum life, 𝐿10 life, and 𝐵10 life are also used as synonyms for rating life
• Median life or average life is the 50th percentile life of a group of bearings
• The median life is between 4 and 5 times the 𝐿10 life
• The most commonly used rating life is 106 revolutions
• The Timken Company is a well-known exception, rating its bearings at
3000 hours at 500 rev/min, which is 90(106 ) revolutions.
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Bearing Load Life at Rated Reliability
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Catalog load rating, 𝐶10
• Defined as the radial load that causes 10 percent of a group of bearings to fail
at the bearing manufacturer’s rating life.
• Often referred to as a Basic Dynamic Load Rating, or sometimes just Basic Load
Rating, if the manufacturer’s rating life is 106 revolutions.
R and D stand for ℒ is in hours
Rated and Desired n is in rev/min
Units of 𝐿𝑅 and 𝐿𝐷 60 min/h
are revolutions
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Catalog load rating, 𝐶10
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Reliability versus Life -The Weibull Distribution
The reliability, R,
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Relating Load, Life, and Reliability (designer’s problem)
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Combined Radial, 𝐹𝑟 and Thrust 𝐹𝑎 Loading
The equivalent radial load
Rotation factor, V
V = 1 when the inner ring rotates
V = 1.2 when the outer ring rotates
V = 1 for rotation of either ring (Self-aligning
bearings)
Y factor is always zero for straight or cylindrical
roller bearings
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Combined Radial, 𝐹𝑟 and Thrust 𝐹𝑎 Loading
• The X and Y factors depend
upon the geometry and
construction of the specific
bearing
𝐶0 is the basic static load rating
• the load that produce a total
permanent deformation of
0.0001 times the diameter of
the rolling element in the
raceway and rolling element
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Combined Radial, 𝐹𝑟 and Thrust 𝐹𝑎 Loading
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Combined Radial, 𝐹𝑟 and Thrust 𝐹𝑎 Loading
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Combined Radial, 𝐹𝑟 and Thrust 𝐹𝑎 Loading
ABMA plan
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Combined Radial, 𝐹𝑟 and Thrust 𝐹𝑎 Loading
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Combined Radial, 𝐹𝑟 and Thrust 𝐹𝑎 Loading
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Variable Loading
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Problem 1.
A certain application requires a ball bearing with the inner ring rotating, with a design
life of 25 kh at a speed of 350 rev/min. The radial load is 2.5 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.
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Selection of Ball and Cylindrical Roller Bearings
Problem 2. An angular contact ball bearing with the inner ring rotating is to be
selected for an application with a design life of 10 kh at a speed of 655 rev/min. The
radial load is 465 lbf, axial load is 344 lbf and an application factor of 1.2 is required.
The reliability factor for the bearing needs to 0.99. Weibull parameters for the
bearing are 𝑥0 = 0.02, (𝜃 − 𝑥0 ) = 4.439, and 𝑏 = 1.483.
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Tapered Roller Bearings Nomenclature
The cone assembly: the cone, the rollers, and the cage
The cup
A tapered roller bearing can carry both radial and
thrust (axial) loads
Use at least two tapered roller bearings on a shaft
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Tapered Roller Bearings Mountings
1. Direct mounting--the cone backs facing each
other
2. Indirect mounting--the cone fronts facing
each other
The span is 𝑎𝑒 , the effective spread
The geometric spread 𝑎𝑔
The direct and indirect mounting have the same
system stability, but direct mounting needs more
space
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Timken catalog for Tapered Roller Bearing (Figure 11-15)
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Load Analysis for Tapered Roller Bearing
𝐹𝑖 induced thrust load
K factor is geometry-specific and is the ratio of the radial load rating to
the thrust load rating.
For preliminary selection process;
• 𝐾 = 1.5 for a radial bearing
• 𝐾 = 0.75 for a steep angle bearing
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Load Analysis for Tapered Roller Bearing
𝐹𝑟 is the radial load
𝐹𝑖 is the induced thrust load
𝐹𝑎𝑒 is the externally applied thrust load
Equivalent radial loads
𝐹𝑎 is the net axial load
Only one of the bearings will carry
the net axial load
It depends on the direction the bearings are mounted, the relative magnitudes of the induced loads, the
direction of the external load, and whether the shaft or the housing is the moving part.
Rolling-Contact Bearings
Selection of Bearing for Axial Load
• Identify the bearing which is being
“squeezed” by the external thrust load,
and label it as bearing A
• Determine which bearing actually
carries the net axial load
• Bearing A would carry
-the external axial load, 𝐹𝑎𝑒
-induced thrust 𝐹𝑖𝐵 from bearing B
• Bearing B would carry
-induced thrust 𝐹𝑖𝐴 from bearing A
