Rolling (Antifriction) Bearings

Ball bearings

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Fatigue Criteria
A properly lubricated, dirt-free, bearing will fail by fatigue
caused by contact stresses (hertz equations - chap3).
According to (AFBMA), failure occurs with the first evidence of
fatigue when the load carrying surfaces (rolling elements or
the raceway) exhibit a spall area or a pit of a given size (0.01
in2 for Timken Bearings)
Typically the raceway will fail first. Pitting causes audible
noise and vibration. Useful life of the bearing may extend
considerably beyond this point, but the surface continues to
deteriorate leading up to fracture of the rolling elements and
possible damage to other connected elements.

Useful life is often used as a definition of fatigue life.

Failure of bearings is statistically distributed according to the
skewed (unequal), Weidbull distribution.
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Bearing Life
Bearing life is the total number of revolutions N or the number of
hours of bearing operation at a given speed S required for the
failure criteria to develop. It is determined by testing n groups of
bearings, each group containing a large number of bearings.
Rating Life - Minimum life, L10 life, (named B10 life outside the USA)
According to AFBMA, the rating life of a group (large number) of
randomly chosen, apparently identical bearings
is the number of revolutions N (or hours L) at some constant speed
S, at which that 90% of the group will still be operating.
Alternatively, it is the life at which 10% of the group are expected
to fail due to classical fatigue failure.

• The reliability associated with L10 is 0.9 (90%)

• AFBMA - Anti Friction Bearing Manufacturers Association
• ABMA - American Bearing Manufacturers Association
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 Rated speed Rated life Rated life
(Hrs) (Revolutions)
SKF Varies Varies 106
recognized Timken S = 500 rpm L = 3000 hrs 90106
bearing
McGill S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 500 hrs 106
companies
Fafnir S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 1500 hrs 3106

The Median life (ML) represents 50% failures.

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Bearing Fatigue life distribution
Weibull distribution represents general pattern of bearing
fatigue-life distribution.

Rated
Life L10
Weibull
% of failures

distribution

Life in multiples of L10

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3-parameters Weibull distribution
The reliability according to the
three-parameter distribution:
  x  x b 
R  exp    0
  ; x  x0  0
    x0  
 
1/ b
 1
x  x0    x0   ln  Eq. (1)
 R
R Reliability
x = L/L10 dimensionless life measure (Fig. 2.9)

x0 minimum guaranteed value for x

 a characteristic or scale value (  x0), corresponding to the
63.2121 percentile value of x
b shape parameter that controls the skewness (b > 0)
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   x  x b 
R  exp    0
  ; x  x0  0
    x0  
 
1/ b
 1
x  x0    x0   ln 
 R

parameter b controls the skeweness of the distribution.

3.3 < b < 3.5 approximates symmetry and good approximation to
the normal distribution is attained.
b = 1 gives the exponential distribution (refer to Ch 2.)
 represents a value of x below which lie 63.2121% of the variate.

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 Summary

Rating Life - 𝐿10 Life (Obtained by testing a large group of a

given type of bearings)

It is defined as the number of revolutions 𝑁 or the number of

hours 𝐿, at some constant speed, at which 90% of the group
will still be operating.

Note: The reliability associated with L10 is 0.9 (90%)

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Bearing Load Life
Fatigue life data of material is expressed as
 m N  cst Eq. (3)
 is the stress, m is an exponent, and N = # of cycles to fatigue.
Using standard bearing notation Eq. (3) is written as
F L  cst
a
or FL1a
 cst Eq. (11-1) Eq. (4)
F is the bearing load, a is an exponent,
L is the life in # of hours at a given speed.
N is the life in # of revolutions at a given speed.
Number of revolutions N and life in Hours L are related
N R  rev   LR  hrs   nR  rpm   60  min/ hr  Eq. (5a)
N D  rev   LD  hrs   nD  rpm   60  min/ hr  Eq. (5b)

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 Taking the log of both sides of Eq. (4) gives
1
log F   log L  log cst Equation of a straight line
a
Considering two load and
corresponding life points, Eq.
(4) yields
F1L11 a  F2 L12 a Eq. (11-2)
a 1a
L1  F2  F2  L1 
  or  
L2  F1  F1  L2 

Using N (rev) instead of L (hours), Eq. 11-2 becomes

F1 N11 a  F2 N21 a
1a
F2  N1 
  Eq. (6)
F1  N 2 

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Let the two loads and corresponding life points be as follows:

Point 1 is the rated condition

F1 = C, N1 = NR (M rev) or L1 = LR (hrs),
Point 2 is the design condition (or desired)
F2 = FD, N2 = ND (M rev) or L2 = LD (hrs),
Eq. (6) becomes
1a
FD  N R 
 
FR  N D 

FR  N R   FD  N D 
1a 1a
Eq. (7)

Substituting Eq. (5a) yields Note: Eq. (8) holds if the

reliability is the same for
FR  LR nR 60   FD  LD nD 60 
1a 1a
Eq. (8) points 1 and 2
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The rated load FR is the basic dynamic radial load rating C (or C10).
C (also named catalog rating) is a purely reference value used in
bearing catalogs. The AFBMA defines it as the applied radial load a
group of apparently identical bearings endure for a rating life of LR =
106 rev with rotating inner ring and fixed outer ring. C is so high that it
would cause plastic deformation of contacting surfaces and probably
will not be applied.
Moreover, the design load FD is replaced with Fe, defined as the
dynamic equivalent radial load which does the same damage as
the combined effect of the radial load Fr and thrust load Fa.

Replace FR by C and FD by Fe in Eqs. (8)

1a
 LD nD 60 
C  Fe   Eq. (11-3) Eq. (9)
 R R 
L n 60
for ball bearings a3 Eq. (9a)
for roller bearings a  10 / 3 Eq. (9b)
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Example 11-1 (page 575)

Rated speed Rated life (Hrs) Rated life (Revolutions)

SKF Varies Varies 106
Timken S = 500 rpm L = 3000 hrs 90106
McGill S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 500 hrs 106
Fafnir S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 1500 hrs 3106
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Example 11-1 (page 575)

Rated speed Rated life (Hrs) Rated life (Revolutions)

SKF Varies Varies 106
Timken S = 500 rpm L = 3000 hrs 90106
McGill S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 500 hrs 106
Fafnir S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 1500 hrs 3106
 ?
Example 11-1 (page 575)

Rated speed Rated life (Hrs) Rated life (Revolutions)

SKF Varies Varies 106
Timken S = 500 rpm L = 3000 hrs 90106
McGill S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 500 hrs 106
Fafnir S = 33 1/3 rpm L = 1500 hrs 3106
Load, Life and Reliability
Designer must select a bearing from a manufacturer’s catalog
which is based on specific rated load, speed, and reliability that
are different from the design load, speed, reliability, operating
conditions, environmental conditions, and material.
Parameter Catalog Rating Design
Load FR or C10 FD ≠ FR
Speed nR = 33 1/3 rpm nD ≠ nR
Reliability R = 90% RD > R
Life LR = L10 = 106 Revolutions LD ≠ L10
Operating conditions Support, alignment, etc.
Environmental conditions Lubrication, protection,
temperature, etc.
Material Good quality steel
Figure 11.5 depicts this dilemma.
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 Designer journey: move from point D
to point A through point B! That is:
map the design to the catalog rating.

Red line – contour at constant (rated) 90% reliability

Blue line – contour at constant design reliability RD
Point A – catalog rating FR  C10 at 𝑥 = 1
Point B – target reliability locus RD with a load C10
Point D – point on desired reliability contour for design life 𝑥 D at
design load FD
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• Along the same reliability contour (line AB with relability 𝑅𝐷 ):
1a 1a
L  L 
FB  LB nB 60   FD  LD nD 60   FB  B nB 60   FD  D nD 60 
1a 1a

 L10   L10 
FB  xB nB 60   FD  xD nD 60 
1a 1a
Eq. (10)

x is dimensionless ratio of the life L to the rated life L10

• Along a straight horizontal line BA

xB  x0    x0  1  RD 
1/ b

• Using the two properties it can be shown that:

Eq. (11)

This symbol means equal or greater than

18
 Eq. (11)

Notes:

• af is the application factor

• FD must be replaced with Fe if the axial load Fa on the bearing
is not equal to zero

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Application factor
Fe represents working loads such as roll forces, cutting forces,
etc., as determined from transmitted power. It does not include
weights of machine parts. In Eq. (12) Fe was multiplied by the
application factor af to account for shock loads due to
unbalance, vibrations in gears due to varying mesh stiffness, etc.
(Table 11-5)

The following tables give af for applications involving belt drives

and gear drives.
Belt drives af
V-belts. Larger values are suitable when the distance 2 to 2.5
between shafts is short, peripheral speeds are slow, or
operating conditions are not known with precision
Plain belts with tension pulley 2.5 to 3
Plain belts 4 to 5
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Gear Drives
a f  fk fd
fk accounts for additional forces arising from gear errors
fd account for operating conditions caused by the machine
connected to the gear drive.
Geometric error factor values, fk
Accuracy of gears fk
precision gears (pitch and form errors < 0.02 mm) 1.05 to 1.1
normal gears (pitch and form errors 0.02 to 0.1 mm) 1.1 to 1.3

Operating conditions factor values, fd

Type of machine fd
machines operating without shock loads; e.g. electrical 1.0 to 1.2
machines, turbines.
reciprocating engines, depending on degree of unbalance. 1.2 to 1.5
pronounced shock loads; e.g. rolling mills. 1.5 to 3
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Bearing dynamic equivalent radial load Fe
Rolling bearings operate with a combination of Fa and Fr. But
catalogue ratings are based on pure radial loads.  the radial
load Fe that is equivalent in its effect to the combination of the
applied radial load Fr and thrust load Fa is needed.
For ball bearings, Fe is the maximum of the (AFBMA Eqs.)

Fe  VFa or Fe  XVFr  YFa 11-9 Eq. (12)

Y = 0 for straight roller bearings.
V is a rotation factor (relative speed between inner and outer rings).
• 𝑉 = 1 when the inner ring rotates
• 𝑉 = 1.2 when the outer ring rotates
X and Y are the radial load and thrust load factors, respectively. They
depend on bearing geometry, and determined in accordance with a
reference variable e given by e = Fa/Fr (corresponds to Fa/Co). The axial
load has no effect on life below a certain ratio e.
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Table 11-1 lists the values of X and Y for
various values of e. and Fa/C0

Fa/(VFr) ≤ e Fa/(VFr) > e

Fa/C0 e X1 Y1 X2 Y2
0.014 0.19 1.00 0 0.56 2.30
0.056 0.26 1.00 0 0.56 1.71
0.56 0.44 1.00 0 0.56 1.00

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Static Load Rating
Basic Static Load Rating C0 is used to determine the permissible
load Fmax applied to a bearing at stand still (no rotation), very low
operating speed, low oscillating movements, or rotating and
subject to heavy shock loads during a fraction of revolution.

C0  Mnb db2 Ball bearings Eq. (13)

C0  Mnr lc d Roller bearings
C0 Bearing static load rating, lbf (kN)
Nb Number of balls
nr Number of rollers
db Diameter of balls, in (mm)
d Diameter of rollers, in (mm)
lc Length of contact line, in (mm)

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M in. and lbf mm and kN
Radial ball 1.78 (10)3 5.11 (10)3
Ball thrust 7.10 (10)3 20.4 (10)3
Radial roller 3.13 (10)3 8.99 (10)3
Roller thrust 14.2 (10)3 40.7 (10)3

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Selection of Ball Bearing
Step 1. Determine the design bearing life, LD using available
data.
Step 2. Determine the applied loads in the machine that will
affect bearing loads.
Step 3. Calculate the bearing radial load Fr and thrust load Fa.
This is accomplished by applying static equations of equilibrium.
Step 4. Determine the dynamic equivalent radial load Fe. This is
the load that is equivalent in its effect on the bearing to the
actual combination of the applied radial and thrust loads. Eq.
11-9 (Eq. 12 in notes), Table 11-1.
Step 5. Determine the required basic dynamic radial load rating
C (catalogue rating). Eq. 11. Here you have to make an initial
guess as the process requires iteration.
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Step 6. Select from the appropriate bearing tables a bearing with
a basic dynamic radial load rating equal or greater than the
calculated required dynamic radial load rating.
Step 7. Verify that the bearing satisfies all design constraints
such as inside diameter, outside diameter, width, etc.
Note: Doubling the load reduces life to approximately 1/10.
Reduce load by one half increases life approximately 10 times.
Doubling speed reduces life by one half.

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Example 11.7
The second shaft on a parallel-
shaft 25-hp speed reducer
contains a helical gear with DG = of
8.08 in. Forces on the second
shaft are shown at point A. The
bearing reactions at C and D,
assuming simple-supports. The
design parameters of the speed
reducer are:
af =1.2, LD =10 kh, overall the product of reliabilities for the
four bearings is RD  0.96
(x0 = 0.02, ( − x0) = 4.439, and b = 1.483).

(a)Select a roller bearing for location D.

(b)Select a ball bearing (angular contact) for location C,
assuming the inner ring rotates.
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Selection of the roller bearing

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32
Selection of the ball bearing

33
assumption

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Notes:
• In the previous examples, we used the formula below to
determine the catalog rating 𝐶10 for a bearing whose reliability is
different than 0.9 (usually > 0.9)
1/𝑎
𝑥𝐷
𝐶10 = 𝑎𝑓 𝐹𝑒 1/𝑏
𝑥0 + 𝜃 − 𝑥0 1 − 𝑅𝐷

𝑁𝐷 Desired life in revolutions (rev)

• 𝑥𝐷 =
𝑁𝑅 Rated life in revolutions (rev)
𝑁𝐷 60∗𝐿𝐷 𝑛𝐷 𝐿𝐷 𝑛 𝐷
• 𝑥𝐷 = = = 𝐿(hrs) and 𝑛(rpm)
𝑁𝑅 60∗𝐿10 𝑛𝑅 𝐿10 𝑛𝑅

 LD nD 
1a

• Thus, C10  a f Fe
 L n  x    x 1  R  
1a
1b
10 R 0 0 D

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  LD nD 
1a

C10  a f Fe Eq. (14)

  
1a
L10 nR x0    x0 1  RD 
1b

a1 is the life adjustment factor for reliability


a1  x0    x0 1  RD 
1b
 Eq. (15)

𝐿𝐷 𝑛𝐷 1/𝑎
𝐶10 = 𝑎𝑓 𝐹𝑒
𝐿10 𝑛𝑅 𝑎1 1/𝑎 Eq. (16)

ISO has added other life adjustment factors:

𝐿𝐷 𝑛𝐷 1/𝑎
𝐶10 = 𝑎𝑓 𝐹𝑒
𝐿𝑛𝑎 𝑛𝑅 1/𝑎 Eq. (17)
Lna is the adjusted rated life established by ISO
Lna  a1a2 a3a4 L10 Eq. (18)
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Adjusted bearing life
The life of a bearing should be adjusted to a particular design
situation. The adjusted rated life Lna equation established by
ISO is
Lna  a1a2 a3a4 L10 Eq. (19)

The index n represents the difference between the specified

reliability and 100. For example L6 corresponds to a reliability
of 94% (100  94 = 6).

Life adjustment factors

a1 reliability factor
a2 material factor
a3 operating condition factor
a4 spall size factor

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Reliability (R) factor a1 is the percentage of a group of identical
bearings expected to attain or exceed a specified life. R of an
individual bearing is the probability that the bearing will attain
or exceed a specified life. L10 is associated with R = 90%.

a1  4.439 ln 1 R 

1 1.483
For ball bearings  0.02 Eq. (20a)

a1  4.48ln 1 R 
2/3
For roller bearings Eq. (20b)

Material Factor a2 is given by bearing manufacturer; a2=2 or 3

for special steels, 1 for standard steel. AFBMA recommends 3 for
special steels. Original rating considered steel to be the
conventional material. Improved materials resulted in a2 > 2.

46
Operating Conditions Factor a3 is defined as

Eq. (21)

fT is the temperature factor and fV is the viscosity factor.

Spall size factor a4 is considered if the design spall area is not

the same as the area which defines the failure criteria (0.01 in2
or 6 mm2 for Timken bearings).
47
 Temperature factor fT

48
Metric system:
15000
 fT  600 1.8T  32  S 0.38
1.8
S
d
15000
 fT  3500 1.8T  32   S f G 
1.8
S
0.2

d
3700 3700
Note:if S  ,set S 
d d
US system:
600
S  fT  600T 1.8 S 0.38
d
600
S  fT  1800T 1.8  S f G 
0.2

d
150 150
Note:if S  ,set S 
d d
(Entrainment velocity factor)
d0 D0
fG  mm or in
d0  D0
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 Viscosity factor fv

50
ABMA – standard boundary dimensions

51
the dimension-series code does not reveal the dimensions directly,
but tables do. (Tables 11-2 and 11-3 are samples)

52
Ball bearings

53
Ball bearings
Fr plus More balls,
Some Fa lower Fa higher Fa

Protection Shaft Heavier Shaft Loads along

from dirt misalignment loads misalignment bearing axis
54