Study on the rotational speed of bearing cage based on ultrasonic measurement

Abstract

In this paper, a new method for measuring the cage speed based on the ultrasonic reflection principle is proposed. By emitting high-frequency ultrasound signal for penetrating the bearing outer ring and detecting its ultrasonic echo signal continuously, the time of each rollers passing under the probe can be recorded accurately by detecting the change in the ultrasonic echo signal. Then, the rotation speed of the roller can be obtained by counting the passing frequency of the rollers. For the cages under working conditions, the cages and the rollers share the same rotation speed, where the cage rotation speed is an indication of the bearing operation. Compared to the optical measurement method for the rotation speed of bearing cage, the new method does not need any special arrangement for the bearings and is not sensitive to the environmental factors such as oil mist. In this paper, the new method is used to measure the rotation speed of the cage under different working conditions. By comparing the experimental results with the traditional optical method measurement result and the theoretical calculation results, the measurement results are basically consistent, which verifies the credibility and validity of the new measurement method.