Research on the cage stability of high-precision ball bearing with image acquirement and error separation

Abstract

The unstable movement of the cage directly affects the performance of the high-precision ball bearing. Because the cage is located inside the bearing, and affected by the working conditions and lubrication states, its dynamic characteristics are extremely complicated, the existing theory and experimental methods are difficult to evaluate the stability of the cage effectively. This paper presents an image-based method for evaluating the cage stability. In order to obtain the motion trajectories of the cage accurately, a new experimental instrument was developed. At the same time, the composition and separation method of the cage motion error were investigated. High-precision measurement of cage motion using the proposed method and the instrument could be achieved without changing any structure. On this basis, the variation law of cage stability with rotational speed, load and wear degree was obtained. The research results of this paper are useful for the structural optimization design and life prediction of high-precision ball bearings.