Bearing Ratings & Life Equations

Timken Training
 AGENDA

• Load Ratings

• Single-Row Life Equations

• Multiple-Row Life Equations

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 BEARING RATING & BEARING LIFE
Bearing Rating:
• Describes the expected
load a part can carry
• Determined by geometry
and material of bearing
• A variable used to calculate
estimated life (L10)
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Bearing Life:
• Estimated time bearing will
run before predetermined
amount of damage occurs
• Determined by application
conditions, bearing rating,
and bearing performance
enhancements
Bearing Ratings
 BEARING LOAD RATINGS

• Timken ratings are calculated based on algorithms

developed inter-company or through ISO

• Validated through:
• Testing under reference conditions
• Practical experience in customer applications

• International Bearing Performance Audit samples

bearings to ensure they meet the established
rating.

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 TIMKEN BEARING TESTING

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 DYNAMIC LOAD RATING

• Used for estimating the life of a rotating bearing.

• Symbol is C90 or C(90) for radial rating
• Symbol is Ca90 or Ca(90) for thrust rating

• The load that 90% or more of a large group of

bearings could survive for 90 million revolutions
before a 0.01in2 (6mm2) spall develops.

• Rating verified by testing at given reference

conditions

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 DYNAMIC LOAD RATING
REFERENCE CONDITIONS

• Load: Fr = 150% C90

• Speed: S = 500 RPM
• Lubrication: Oil viscosity = 33 cSt @ 55° C (155
SUS at 130° F)
• Temperature: T = 55° C (130° F)
• Setting: 150° load zone
• Alignment: < 0.0005 radians
• Fatigue spall size: 6 mm2 (0.01 in2)

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 BEARING RATINGS

• Timken ratings based on C90 yet many ratings are

published as C1
3

• To convert C1 to C90
C1  90 C 90 10

C1  3.86C 90

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• Using C1 in L10  C1 
 
3

equation L10     1  106 Revolutions

 P

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 BEARING RATINGS

• C1 is a theoretical number. The bearing should

never be loaded to this magnitude.

• “Working” load range is 1/3 of the C1 rating.

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 TIMKEN DYNAMIC RADIAL RATING – TRB, MOST
CRB AND MOST SRB

• Rating Equations: Radial Capacity

C90 = H MZ L cos  

4 7 16
10
5 N D 15

H = Geometry dependent factor

M = Material constant D
Z = Number of bearing rows in
assembly
L = Effective roller contact length Leff
 = 1/2 Included cup angle
N = Number of rollers per rating row 
D = Mean roller diameter

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 ISO 281 DYNAMIC BEARING RATING – SOME
CRB, SOME SRB, BALL

• Rating Equations: Radial Capacity

3
7    29 
C1  bm f c iLwe cos   
9 Z 4
D  
we  
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bm = material factor and manufacturing quality.

Current factor is 1.1.
fc = geometry, accuracy, and material factor
D
i = number of rows in a bearing
Lwe = effective roller length
 = nominal contact angle of a bearing [deg]
Z = number of rollers in a single/multi-row bearing L
Dwe = roller diameter

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Bearing Life Calculations: Single
Row Bearings
 WHAT IS BEARING “LIFE”?

• Multiple bearing damage modes exist

• Industry standardization of bearing life prediction

needed

• Fatigue damage mode chosen as standard

approach

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 SINGLE BEARING FATIGUE LIFE

• A single bearing’s fatigue life is the time until a

spall of a predefined area forms on a bearing
contact surface due to fatigue

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 CONTACT STRESS

Point Contact Line Contact

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 CONTACT AND SUBSURFACE STRESS

Contact
Stress

Subsurface
Stress

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 SUBSURFACE ORIGINATED FATIGUE CRACK
EXAMPLES

Probable crack
propagation paths

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 BEARING POPULATION FATIGUE LIFE

L10 life:

• The number of hours (or revolutions) that 90% of

a group of (apparently identical) bearings will
meet or exceed, under a given set of conditions,
before specified fatigue damage occurs

L = Fatigue Life of a rolling element bearing

10 = 10% of population with damage (reliability)

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 WEIBULL DISTRIBUTION OF BEARING FATIGUE
LIFE

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 WEIBULL CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION

 N  N0 
  
F (N )  1 e  NA 

F(N) = Fraction failed by life N

N0 = Minimum life for any member

(often N0=0)

NA = Characteristic Life
(63.2% failure point where NA = N)

 = Weibull slope
 (1.5 for Timken roller bearings)

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 WEIBULL STATISTICS OVERVIEW

• Bearings tested under identical loading conditions

will have different lives.

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 CATALOG L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
GENERALIZED EQUATION

• Generally calculated from one of the following

formulas:
exp
 capacity 
L10,revs   
 equiv. load 
exp
 capacity   const. 
L10,hrs      
 equiv. load   speed 
capacity = Dynamic load rating
equiv. load = Dynamic equivalent load
speed = Bearing speed
exp = Load-life exponent
const. = Conversion factor

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 CATALOG L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
GENERALIZED EQUATION - TERMS

• Dynamic Load Rating (“capacity”)

• This can be based on 1 million (C1 or Ca1)
or 90 million (C90 or Ca90) revolutions
• It can be radial (C1 or C90) or
axial (Ca1 or Ca90)

• Dynamic Equivalent Load (“equiv. load”)

• Can be Dynamic Equivalent Radial Load or Dynamic
Equivalent Axial Load, but it must match the rating
(radial or axial)
• Units must also match those of the rating

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 CATALOG L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
GENERALIZED EQUATION - TERMS
• Bearing Speed (“speed”)
• Units are Revolutions Per Minute (RPM)
• Using this and the constant, the equation converts from
revolutions to hours

• Exponent (“exp”)
• 10/3 for roller bearings
• 3 for ball bearings

• Constant (“const.”)
• A units conversion constant to convert:
• Rating based upon 1 million or 90 million revolutions
• Speed from RPM to revolutions/hour
• L10 life units (hours or revolutions)

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
SPECIFIC BEARING TYPES

• Cylindrical Roller Bearings

• Tapered Roller Bearings

• Spherical Roller Bearings

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
CYLINDRICAL ROLLER BEARINGS

• Variables:
• Dynamic Radial Equivalent Load
• C (or C1), Rating for 1 million revolutions

10 / 3
 C1   16,667 
L10,hrs     [hours]
P  S 
10 / 3
 C1 
L10,revs   [million revs]
P

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
CYLINDRICAL ROLLER BEARINGS

• If the C90 rating is used, the

constant changes accordingly
when calculating L10 life in hours:

 90x106 / 60 
10 / 3
 C90 
L10,hrs      [hours]
 P   S 
 1.5 x106 
10 / 3
 C90 
     [hours]
 P   S 

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
CYLINDRICAL ROLLER BEARINGS
• To avoid slippage, a minimum
load should be maintained
• Bearings with cage: P/C  0.02
• Full-complement: P/C  0.04

• Certain cylindrical roller bearings can carry some

axial load
• Engineering guideline - the axial load should not exceed
10% the radial load

• Applied load (P) should not

exceed 1/3 of the load rating (C or C1)
• The 10/3 load-life relationship is no longer as
appropriate at these load levels

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
TAPERED ROLLER BEARINGS

• Variables:
• P, Dynamic Equivalent Radial Load (unless loading is
axial only)
• C90, Rating for 90 million revolutions

 1.5 x106 
10 / 3
 C90 
L10,hrs      [hours]
 P   S 

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
TAPERED ROLLER BEARINGS

• If only axial load is applied, the variables

become:
• Pa – Dynamic Equivalent Axial Load
• Ca90 – Axial rating for 90 million revolutions

10 / 3
 Ca 90   1.5 x106 
L10,hrs       [hours]
 Pa   S 

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
SPHERICAL ROLLER BEARINGS

• Variables:
• Dynamic Equivalent Radial Load
• C (or C1) – Rating for 1 million revolutions

10 / 3
 C1   16,667 
L10,hrs     [hours]
P  S 
10 / 3
 C1 
L10,revs   [million revs]
P

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 L10 LIFE CALCULATIONS:
SPHERICAL ROLLER BEARINGS

• To avoid slippage, a minimum

load should be maintained
• P/C  0.02

• Spherical roller bearings can carry axial load

• Review the thrust load factor “e”
• Engineering guideline = ¼ thrust to radial load

• Applied load (P) should not

exceed 1/3 of the load rating (C or C1)
• The 10/3 load-life relationship is no longer as
appropriate at these load levels

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Other Considerations
 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE
CATALOG L10 LIFE EQUATIONS

Roller Bearings:
10 / 3
C  constant 
L10,hrs     [hours]
 P  S 
2 X Load = 1/10 Life
1/2 Load = 10 X Life
+23% Load = ½ Life

2 X Speed = 1/2 Life

1/2 Speed = 2 X Life

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 ADVANCED USE OF L10 LIFE:
SYSTEM LIFE

• Multiple-Bearing Systems
• Applications typically consist of more than a
single bearing row
• The L10 life of the system is the time at which
90% of the bearings in the system would not
have had any damaged bearings
• System L10 life is always lower than any
individual bearing L10 lives within that system
2 / 3
 1  3/2
 1 
3/2
 1 
3/2

L10,system            
 L10,A   L 
  L 
 
 10,B 10,n


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Bearing Life Calculations - Multiple-
Row Bearings
 TIMKEN BEARING PRODUCTS

TDO TDI

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 TWO-ROW LIFE CALCULATION PROCEDURE

1. Determine applied forces

2. Calculate bearing reactions

3. Check thrust condition for fixed position

4. Determine dynamic equivalent radial load for

fixed position

5. Calculate bearing L10 life for fixed position

6. Repeat steps 4-5 for the float position

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 BEARING LIFE CALCULATION

A B C

Fixed Float

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 FIXED BEARING LIFE CALCULATION

• Timken Method:
• Evaluate life based on heaviest loaded single row
• Assumes row A is the heaviest loaded row
• Use C90(1)A, the single row rating
10
 C90 1 A  3
1.5  106 
L10 A     
 PA   S 
• The L10 system life for two-row bearing is:
2 3
 3
2  1 
3
2 
1
L10( AB )      
 L10 A   L10 B  
 
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 FLOAT BEARING LIFE CALCULATION

• Timken Method:
• Evaluate life based on the total radial load, Fr
• The two rows of the float position share the load equally
• Therefore the dynamic equivalent radial load is equal to
the radial reaction, so: PC = FrC

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 C90 2  C  3 1.5  106 
L10C     
 FrC   S 
• Note: Use C90(2)C, the two row rating
C90(2)  2 X C90(1)
C90(2) = 1.74 X C90(1)

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 FLOAT BEARING LIFE CALCULATION

C90(2)  2 X C90(1) C90(2) = 1.74 X C90(1)

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 BEARING RATINGS & LIFE EQUATIONS

QUESTIONS?

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