Internal Loading Distribution in Statically Loaded Ball Bearings Subjected to an Eccentric Thrust Load

Abstract

Rolling‐element bearings are simple machine elements of great utility used both in simple commercial devices as in complex engineering mechanisms. Because of being a very popular machine element, there is a lot of literature on the subject. With regard to the behavior of internal loading distribution, elastic deformations at point or line contacts, and geometric parameters under loading, although there are many works describing the parameters variation models, few works show such variations in practice, even under simple static loadings. In an attempt to cover this gap some studies are being developed in parallel. Particularly in this work, a new, iterative computational procedure is introduced which calculates internal normal ball loads in statically loaded single‐row, angular‐contact ball bearings, subjected to a known thrust load which is applied to a variable distance (lever arm or eccentricity) from the geometric bearing center line. Numerical examples results for a 218 angular‐contact ball bearing have been compared with those from the literature. Fifty figures are presented showing geometrical features and the following parameters variations as functions of the thrust load and eccentricity: contact angle, contact ellipse parameters, normal ball loads, distances between groove curvature centers, normal and axial deflections, and loading zones.