Maintenance Engineering Certificate Course

By Career Guidance Cell (CGC)

Department of Mechanical Engineering,
College of Engineering and Computer Science
ROLLING-ELEMENT BEARINGS

• Reliable bearing performance is a key

factor in reducing maintenance costs and in
improving machine availability.

• Bearings should be properly aligned and

protected from extreme temperatures,
moisture, and contaminants.

• A Knowledge of the proper installation

techniques and tools is required to ensure
that bearings are not prematurely
damaged.

• Lubrication, maintenance schedules,

monitoring bearing operating conditions are
important in maximizing bearing life.
WHY BEARINGS FAILS?

• Heavier loading than had

been originally designed
for.

• Ineffective seals or
mountings which are too
tight resulting in too little
bearing internal
clearance.
 HISTORY OF BEARINGS FAILURES?

• Less than 10 % die from old age (e.g., fatigue of the

bearing surfaces),
• 24 % fail because of poor lubrication,
• 20 % because of improper installation,
• 27 % from misapplication and
• Rest fail as a result of liquid or solid contaminants
entering the bearing or because of handling damage
 BEARING DESIGNS AND NOMENCLATURE

• Rolling bearings include radial and thrust bearings for

radial and axial loads, respectively, and some bearing
types which are designed for combined radial and axial
loads.
• Generally speaking, ball bearings are recommended for
light to moderate loads; roller bearings are recommended
for heavy loads.
• Boundary plans, dimensions, and tolerances according to
the International Standards Organization (ISO).
• Most taper roller bearings boundary dimensions and
tolerances are according to the Anti-Friction Bearing
Manufacturers Association (AFBMA)
Basic Types Of Rolling Bearings

Radial ball bearing types

Basic Types Of Rolling Bearings

Radial roller bearing types.

Basic Types Of Rolling Bearings

Roller bearing types for radial and axial loads combined

Basic Types Of Rolling Bearings

Thrust bearings
Basic Types Of Rolling Bearings

Single-row deep-groove ball-bearing shields, seals, and snap rings.

BEARING SERIES
Most ball bearings are made in three series:
light, medium, and heavy duty. These are
designated as the 2-, 3-, and 4-diameter series
according to the boundary plan.
Spherical roller bearings
Spherical roller bearings are normally available
in eight different series

Spherical roller bearings of different

diameter series with common bore size
Tapered roller bearings
Taper roller bearings, both inch- and metric-
dimensioned, have a larger number of series or
duty classifications, but all series are not
necessarily available for every bore size

Tapered roller-bearing diameter series with

common bore size.
Load Rating
“Load which will provide a basic rating life in
terms of revolutions”

“Basic rating life is the number of revolutions

which the bearing is capable of enduring before
the first sign of fatigue occurs in one of its rings
or rolling elements”.

The basic rating life is expressed in millions of

revolutions
The ISO definition of the basic rating life is the most
common and is at 1 million revolutions.

Some taper roller bearings are rated on the basis of 90

million revolutions, or 500 rev/min (rpm) for 3000 hours.
Interference Fit
When one ring of a rolling-element bearing is mounted on
its mating shaft or in its housing the dimensional fit
resulting is known as interference fit

The magnitude of interference fit will vary with the

severity of duty, type of bearing, and different shaft and
housing materials.

Ball bearings under normal load conditions will have

approximately 0.00025 in interference per inch of shaft
when the inner ring is the tight fit. Roller bearings will
have fits of approximately 0.0005 in per inch of shaft.
 Tolerance Fit

Fit tolerance between the

bearing outside diameter and
the housing utilize a
designation system using a
capital letter and a number
such as H7, J6, P6, and so on

Fit tolerances between the

shaft and bore of the bearing
are designated by a lowercase
letter and number such as g6,
m5, r7, and so on. In the ISO
system, the letter indicates
the class or type of fit, and
the number indicates the
tolerance range
BEARING MOUNTINGS
When rolling bearings are mounted on a shaft,
some provision must be made for thermal
expansion and/or contraction of the shaft.

Also, the shaft must be located and held axially

so that all machine parts remain in the proper
relationship dimensionally. This is normally done
by clamping one of the bearings on the shaft.

When the inner ring has the tight fit, it is usually

locked axially relative to the shaft by locating it
between a shaft shoulder and some type of
removable locking device.
Special locking system

Bearing mounting with a special nut/ locking system for a through shaft.
Special locking system

Bearing mounting with a clamp plate locking device using an inner ring
adjustment spacer.
MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING OF
ROLLER BEARINGS
Most important thing
Apply the mounting or dismounting force to the
side face of the ring with the interference fit.

Keep this force from passing from one ring to

the other through the ball or roller set.

This is particularly important during mounting,

since damage can easily occur internally to the
bearing.

Cleanliness is, of course, extremely important.

Not only the bearing but also the shaft housing
must be free from chips, burrs, dirt, and
moisture
Cold Mountings
It is important that the mounting
force be applied as uniformly as
possible around the side face of
the bearing and to the ring to be
press-fitted.

Mounting fixtures should be

used. These can be a simple
piece of tubing of appropriate
size and a flat plate as shown in
Fig..

Do not try to use a drift and

hammer, because the bearing
will become cocked.
Cold Mountings

Arbor press
Force may be applied to the simple fixture described
above by striking the plate with a hammer or by an arbor
press, as shown in Fig. It is a good idea to apply a coat of
light oil to the bearing seat on the shaft and bore of the
bearing itself before forcing on the shaft.

It should be noted that all sealed and shielded ball

bearings should be mounted cold in this manner
Temperature Mountings
The simplest way to mount any open straight-
bore bearing, no matter what size, is to heat the
entire bearing and simply push it on its seat and
hold in place until it cools enough to start
gripping the shaft.

1. Hot plate: A bearing is simply laid on an ordinary hot

plate until it reaches the approved temperature. The
disadvantage of this method is that the temperature is
difficult to control. A Tempilstik or pyrometer should be
used to make certain the bearing is not overheated.

2. The temperature-controlled oven: This method needs

little comment. The bearings should be left in the oven
long enough to heat thoroughly. However, never leave
bearings in a hot oven overnight or over a holiday or
weekend.
Temperature Mountings
Induction heaters: These are available and can be used to
heat bearings for mounting. One of these is shown in Fig. It
must be remembered that this is a very quick method of
heating and that some method of measuring the ring
temperature must be used or the bearing may be damaged.
A Tempilstik or pyrometer can serve this purpose. Bearings
must be demagnetized after using this method
 Temperature Mountings
A hot-oil bath: This method may also be used
to heat the bearing and, in fact, is the most
practical means to heat larger bearings. This
method has some drawbacks, since the
temperature of the oil is difficult to control
and may overheat the bearing or even become
a fire hazard. A mixture of soluble oil and
water can eliminate both these disadvantages.
Make the mixture 10 to 15 percent soluble oil.
This solution will boil at approximately 210F,
which is hot enough for most bearing fits.

The heating solution should be placed in a

Hot oil for bearing tank or container which has a grate or screen
several inches off the bottom, as shown in Fig.
This will allow any contaminants to sink to the
bottom and keeps the bearings off the bottom
of the container.
Dismounting of Bearings
A wide variety of tools are available
commercially which are designed to remove a
rolling bearing from its seat without damage.
Typical bearing pullers are shown in Fig.
In removal, we should again keep in mind the
basic rule to apply force to the ring with the
tight fit.

Typical bearing pullers

DISMOUNTING BEARING
For smaller bearings, an arbor press is equally effective at
removing as well as mounting bearings. Also, techniques such as
the one shown in Fig. may be used where size permits.

Method to remove small bearings by driving shaft

through supported bearing.
 DISMOUNTING BEARING
Hydraulic Removal. Where shafts have
been designed to apply hydraulic pressure
to the fit between shaft and bearing,
removal is quite simple. First, the locking
device, whatever it is, should be backed
off a distance greater than the axial
movement of the mounting; 1/4 in will be
sufficient in virtually every case.

Then connect a hydraulic pump to the

fitting provided at the end of the shaft, as
shown in Fig. and start building up
pressure. When pressure becomes great
enough to break the fit, usually about
3000 to 6000 psi, the bearing will literally
jump off the taper with a sharp bang.

Hydraulic removal. (A) By

connection to pump
 DISMOUNTING BEARING

Hydraulic pressure may be

used with straight-bore
bearings, but a puller must
be used in conjunction with
the hydraulic pump, since
there will be no axial
component of the hydraulic
pressure to blow the
bearing off its seat. See Fig.

Larger sleeve mountings

also may be designed to
utilize hydraulic pressure
for dismounting.

(B) In conjunction with a puller

OIL LUBRICATION
General considerations that are dominant:

1. The desire to reduce friction to a

minimum, which requires a small quantity
of oil of low viscosity.

2. The desire to maintain lubrication safely

without much regard for friction losses, which
results in using larger quantities of oil and
usually of somewhat greater viscosity in order
to reduce losses from evaporation or leakage.
Grease Lubrication
Grease Lubrication. Where grease lubrication is used, we
need to consider a few of the basic physical and
chemical characteristics of the lubricant. Greases are a
mixture of lubricating oil and usually a soap base. The
base merely acts to keep the oil in suspension. When
moving parts of a bearing come in contact with the
grease, a small quantity of oil will adhere to the bearing
surfaces.

Oil is therefore removed from the grease near the

rotating parts. Bleeding of the oil from the grease
obviously cannot go on indefinitely, so new grease must
come in contact with the moving part or a lubrication
failure will result

National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI) code

Formula to determine the correct amount of grease
SELECTION LUBRICANT
As per electrohydrodynamics (EHD)

Minimum required lubricant viscosity for adequate lubricant film

 References

Maintenance Engineering Handbook 7th Edition by Keith Mobley (Author),

Lindley Higgins (Author), Darrin Wikoff (Author), Publisher : McGraw-Hill
Professional; 7th edition (March 21, 2008), ISBN-10 : 0071546464, ISBN-13 :
978-0071546461
Thank You
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