Determination of the contact stresses in double-row tapered roller bearings using the finite element method, experimental analysis and analytical models

Abstract

Double-row Tapered roller bearings (TRBs) are mechanical devices that are designed to support high axial, radial and torque loads. This combination of loads produces high contact stresses on the bearing raceways that are difficult to predict and validate experimentally, and can cause defects like pitting and fatigue spalling. In response, theoretical models have been proposed by many researchers to calculate the approximate distribution of contact stresses over the bearing raceways. More recently, numerical methods that are based on the Finite element method (FEM) have been used to obtain the contact stresses, although this method requires that the mesh size first be adjusted. This paper shows a process for adjusting a double-row TRB Finite element (FE) model. It is based on generating successive nonlinear FE submodels to calculate the distribution of contact stresses. A theoretical model and contact pressure sensors were used to adjust and validate the Finite element (FE) model.