Ball and Roller Bearing Selection

NOTE: The following material relates specifically to the material given in your textbook. In practice, you will always use the design guide provided by the bearing manufacturer in their catalog. Bearings are specified by their nominal bore diameter, i.e. by the shaft nominal diameter. In addition, there is a set of standard bearing proportions see Figure 11.7 in the text. For a given bore, the bearing series code determines the load capacity, the O.D and the width of the bearing. In some cases, other geometric constraints will also determine which bearing size you will have to use. The key value that you will use in the catalog data is the bearing rated dynamic load capacity C. A small sample of such data is given in Table 11.2 in the text. In this case, C corresponds to the radial load under which 90% of the bearings will survive 106 revolutions. Note that many manufacturers use a different life to define C. You must always make sure that you are using the correct values from the data provided by the manufacturer of the bearing that you are using. Bearing life: Determine the life expectancy L:

C L = LR F r

3.33

where:

LR = rating life (1x106) L = life expected for radial load Fr C = rated load capacity of bearing

For design work it is usually more useful to determine the required rated load Creq so that one can then select a bearing:

Creq

L = Fr L R

0 .3

Ball and Roller Bearing Selection

Reliability: For reliability other than 90% a reliability factor Kr = L/L10 must be applied to the rated life. This is obtained from the table below. E.g. for reliability = 99%, Kr = 0.21. Reliability % 90 95 96 97 98 99 99.5 99.7 99.9 Life rating L10 L05 L04 L03 L02 L01 L005 L003 L001 Reliability factor Kr = L/L10 1.00 0.62 0.53 0.44 0.33 0.21 0.15 0.105 0.055

Note that failure is defined as the onset of surface fatigue damage. This results in bearing noise. The bearing will generally run for a considerable extra life before a complete mechanical failure occurs. Axial loads: The above equations apply to a pure radial load on the bearing. Standard single row, deep groove ball bearings can also handle significant axial loads. In this case, the design calculation is done using an equivalent load Fe instead of Fr in the above equations. See section 11.6 in the text. The factor V has the value V=1.0 when the inner race rotates and V=1.2 when the outer ring rotates. For bearings designed for a radial load Fr (e.g. deep groove) use: Fe = VFr for Fa/VFr
e

( Fa is the axial load)

Fe = XVFr + YFa

for Fa/VFr > e

This simplifies to Fe = XiVFr + YiFa where: i =1 for Fa/VFr

e

and i=2 for Fa/VFr > e

Ball and Roller Bearing Selection

and the values of e, X1, Y1, X2 and Y2 are given in Table 11-1 in your text. Note that e is a function of Fa/C0 (C0 is the static load rating of the bearing as given in Table 11-2, not the dynamic load rating C). The text also give values for 25 angular contact bearings. Shock loading: for case where the load on the bearing has some degree of impact, use the application factor Ka given in Table 11.5 in the text. This is approximate. Summary: Collecting all of the above gives the bearing selection equations:

C L = K r LR F K e a

3.33

and

C req

L = Fe K a K L r R

0.3

Suggested design lives for various applications are given in Table 11.4 in the text. These are in 1000s of hours so multiply by 60000 x rpm to get the life in revolutions.

E.g. A bearing on a 30 mm diameter shaft carries a radial load of 800 N and an axial load of 1000 N. The shaft rotates at 2500 rpm and is part of a gearbox. The whole thing is made with moderate precision and has a smooth power source and load. The desired life of the bearings is 20000 hours with 95% reliability. As the shaft is rotating we have V = 1.0. Fa/Fr = 1000/800 = 1.25, assume that 1.25 > e for now, but check this later once we know the rated load. This gives X2 = 0.56 and Y2 = 1.6 (guess for now) Fe = 0.56*0.8 + 1.6*1.0 = 2.05 kN L = 20000 x 60 x 2500 = 3 x 109 revolutions

Ball and Roller Bearing Selection

LR = 1 x 106 revolutions (standard rating life) L/L10 = 0.62 Ka = 1.2 (for 95% reliability) ( est. from table 11.5)

Creq = 2.05 x 1.2 [ 3 x 109 /( 0.62 x 1 x 106 )]0.3 = 31.36 kN From Table 11.2, for a bore of 45 mm, we see that a series 02 single row deep groove bearing has a rated load capacity of 33.2 kN and is the smallest usable bearing. Alternatively an angular contact bearing with a 40 mm bore has C = 31.9 kN and would be a better choice here. As this has C0 = 18.6 kN we have Fa/C0 = 1/18.6 = 0.0538, giving e = 0.257 This gives Y2 = 1.732 and thus gives Fe = 2.18 kN Giving Creq = 33.35 kN. We now see that we need a 50 mm deep groove bearing or a 45 mm angular contact bearing. No further iteration is needed.