Thermo-mechanical analysis of angular contact ball bearing

The thermal-mechanical character, which is difficult to ensure because of the lack of a corresponding theory and tool, has a significant effect on the dynamics of bearings. It even leads to a sudden failure of bearings in a working situation. In this research, a thermal deformation model was established, based on the analysis of temperature effect on the basic size of angular contact ball bearing. And the transmission from rolling size to bearing axial stiffness was explicit. On the basis of the variation of Hertz contact stiffness and the change of initial contact angle of angular contact ball bearing caused by temperature rise, a “Thermo- mechanical” model of bearing was proposed. According to this model, using the corresponding calculation procedure programmed by MATLAB, the effect of bearing temperature on the axial stiffness has been studied. And the correctness of this model was verified with experiments. Some design suggestions have been made for the decision of bearing preload: to prevent the bearing failure caused by overheating.