MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13.

Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

13. ROLLING-ELEMENT BEARINGS AND GEARBOXES

(This section is taken from Juvinall and Marshek)
13.1 Rolling-Element Bearings
Rolling-element bearings are used to locate shafts in many fans, pumps and gearboxes where
the shaft and the outer members are separated by balls or rollers. The sliding friction in
journal bearings is replaced by rolling friction. Fig. 13.1 shows the main features of a radial
ball bearing. Small contact areas imply high stresses and the use of hard, high strength steel.

Fig. 13.1 Radial deep-groove ball bearing (from Juvinall and Marshek)

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

Rolling-element bearings have the following features:

• Their major advantage is their low starting friction. This is not the case with
hydrodynamically lubricated journal bearings.
• They are not particularly suited to high rotating speeds because:
o fatigue cycles are accumulated rapidly
o centrifugal forces on rolling elements are high
• Rolling-element bearings take up more radial space around the shaft than plain journal
bearings, but less axial space.
• They generate more noise than journal bearings
• They do not require an expensive lubrication system
• They can operate with no radial clearance. This is important if a shaft must be located
precisely.

13.2 Design of Rolling-Element Bearings

Design involves sophisticated engineering analysis, computation and experimentation. Users
are only interested in bearing selection but a few design features are worth noting.

Fig. 13.1(c) shows the geometry of ball-bearing contact surfaces. The selection of the
curvature of the bearing race is critical. If it is only slightly larger than the radius of the ball,
the contact area after local deformation is relatively large. This lowers contact stresses (or
increases load capacity). But different parts of this contact area are at various radii from the
axis of rotation. This causes sliding and in turn, friction and wear. A compromise is for the
radius of curvature of the race to be about 104 percent of the ball radius.

Material selection is critical. High-carbon chrome steels are generally used.

The design of the inner and outer rings for rigidity is important. Manufacturing tolerances
are critical.

13.3 Types of Rolling-Element Bearings

Rolling-element bearings are either ball bearings (capable of higher speeds) or roller bearings
(capable of higher loads). Both types can be classified as:
• radial

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

• thrust
• angular-contact (for carrying both radial and axial loads)
These types are shown in Fig. 13.2.

Fig. 13.2 Representative types of ball bearings, with deep-groove shown in

Fig. 13.1 (from Juvinall and Marshek).

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

Roller bearings are classified by rolling element configuration as:

• cylindrical
• spherical
• tapered
• needle
These are shown in Figures 13.3 to 13.5.

Fig. 13.3 Spherical roller bearings (from Juvinall and Marshek).

Fig. 13.4 Tapered roller bearings (from Juvinall and Marshek).

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

Fig. 13.5 Needle roller bearings (from Juvinall and Marshek).

Ball bearings are made in various proportions in order to accommodate various degrees of
loading (Fig. 13.6).

Fig. 13.6 Relative proportions of bearings of different series (from

Juvinall and Marshel).

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Bearings with filling notches (or loading grooves) permit assembly with the races concentric
and therefore contain more balls than the deep-groove type. This gives 20 to 40 percent
greater radial load capacity at the expense of thrust capacity.

Generally, ball bearings are not separable so they are adaptable to the use of seals and self-
contained grease lubrication (Fig. 13.7). Friction is higher than for open bearings with oil
mist lubrication.

Fig. 13.7 Bearings with seals and shields (from Juvinall and Marshek).

13.4 Fitting
Normal practice is to fit the stationary ring with a ‘slip’ or ‘tap’ fit and the rotating ring with
enough interference to prevent relative motion during operation. Information is supplied by
the manufacturers. Too tight a fit can cause internal interference that shortens the life of the
bearing.

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

13.5 Catalogue Information

Manufacturers’ catalogues, hard copy and web-based, provide complete information on:
• dimensions
• rated load capacities
• mounting, lubrication and operation.
Dimensions of a representative set of bearings are given in Fig. 13.8 and Table 13.1. Rated
load capacity C is shown in Table 13.2. These values correspond to a constant radial load
that 90 percent of a group of nominally identical bearings can endure for 9 × 107 revolutions
without onset of surface fatigue failures.

Fig. 13.8 Shaft and housing shoulder dimensions (from Juvinall and Marshek).

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

Table 13.1 Bearing dimensions (from Juvinall and Marshek).

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

Table 13.1 continued.

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Table 13.1 continued.

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6
Table 14.2 Bearing rated capacities, C, for 90 × 10 revolution life with 90
percent reliability (from Juvinall and Marshek).

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MECH7350 Rotating Machinery 13. Rolling-Element Bearings and Gearboxes

13.6 Bearing Selection

Select:
• Type of bearing
• Grade of precision
• Lubrication and sealing
• Closure (open, sealed or shielded
• Load rating

Take account of:

• Maximum speed. Limitation is linear surface speed, so small bearings can operate at
higher rpm than large ones.
• Static load capacity in cases of heavy load at zero speed. Balls or rollers can then
indent the rings, resulting in noise.
The size of a bearing is usually influenced by the size of the shaft. However, the bearing
must have a high enough load rating to give an acceptable combination of life and reliability.
The major factors that influence load rating are now considered.

13.6.1 Life Requirement

Table 13.2 gives bearing load ratings for 90 × 106 revolutions. Applications will generally
require a different life. Manufacturers use an empirical relationship between bearing life L
and radial load Fr. Equation 13.1 (a) and (b) is a typical relationship applied to both ball and
roller bearings.

L = LR ( C / Fr )
3.33
(13.1a)

or

Creq = Fr ( L / LR )
0.3
(13.1b)

where
C = rated capacity (from Table 13.2) and Creq = the required value of C for the
Application
LR = life corresponding to rated capacity (i.e. 9 × 107 revolutions)
Fr = radial load involved in the application
L = life corresponding to radial load Fr, or life required by the application
Doubling load reduces life by a factor of about 10.

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Different manufacturers’ catalogues use different values of LR, e.g. some use 106 revolutions.
It is easy to show that the values in Table 4.2 must be multiplied by 3.86 to be comparable
with ratings based on a life of 106 revolutions.

13.6.2 Reliability Requirement

Tests show that the median life of a rolling-element bearing is about five times the standard
10 percent failure fatigue life. The standard life is commonly designated as the L10 life.
Since this life corresponds to 10 percent failures, it also means that this is the life for which
90 percent have not failed, and corresponds to 90 percent reliability. Thus, the life for 50
percent reliability is about five times the life for 90 percent reliability.

Many designs require greater than 90 percent reliability. Fatigue lives characteristically have
a skewed distribution as shown in Fig. 13.9. Extensive experimental data has been used to
formulate life adjustment reliability factors, Kr are is plotted in Fig. 13.10 for both ball and
roller bearings. The rated bearing life for any given reliability (greater than 90 percent) is
thus the product, KrLR. Incorporating this into (13.1) gives:

L = K r LR ( C / Fr )
3.33
(13.2a)

Creq = Fr ( L / K r LR )
0.3
(13.2b)

Fig. 13.9 General pattern of bearing fatigue-life Fig. 13.10 Reliability factor Kr (from Juvinall and
distribution (from Juvinall and Marshek). Marshek).

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13.6.3 Influence of Axial Loading

Properly aligned and lubricated, cylindrical roller bearings can carry thrust loads up to 20
percent of their rated radial capacities. The limitation is due to axial loading causing sliding
friction at the roller ends. Tapered roller bearings can carry substantial axial loads, as well as
radial loads. For ball bearings, any combination of radial load (Fr) and thrust load (Ft) results
in approximately the same life as does a pure radial equivalent load, Fe, calculated from the
following equations. Load angle α is defined in Fig. 13.2b. It is zero for radial bearings.
Standard values of α are 15o, 25o, and 35o but only 25o is treated here.

α = 0o ( radial ball bearings )

For 0 < Ft / Fr < 0.35, Fe = Fr

 F 
For 0.35 < Ft / Fr < 10, Fe = Fr 1 + 1.115  t − 0.35  
  Fr 
For Ft / Fr > 10, Fe = 1.176 Ft

α = 25o ( angular ball bearings ) (13.3)

For 0 < Ft / Fr < 0.68, Fe = Fr

 F 
For 0.68 < Ft / Fr < 10, Fe = Fr 1 + 0.870  t − 0.68  
  Fr 
For Ft / Fr > 10, Fe = 0.911Ft

13.6.4 Shock Loading

Shock loading has the effect of increasing the nominal load by an application factor Ka.
Representative values are in Table 13.3.
Table 13.3 Application Factors Ka (from Juvinall and Marshek).

Type of Application Ball Bearing Roller Bearing

Uniform load, no impact 1.0 1.0

Gearing 1.0 – 1.3 1.0

Light impact 1.2 – 1.5 1.0 – 1.1

Moderate impact 1.5 – 2.0 1.1 – 1.5

Heavy impact 2.0 – 3.0 1.5 – 2.0

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Substituting Fe for Fr and adding Ka modifies (13.2) to (13.4)

L = K r LR ( C / Fe K a )
3.33
(13.4a)

Creq = Fe K a ( L / K r LR )
0.3
(13.4b)

13.7 Gearboxes
There are many gearboxes with a range of types and sizes in a power station. Almost all use
gears on shafts which are located with rolling-element bearings. The aim of this brief section
is only to illustrate the two basic configurations of gearboxes; simple and epicyclic (or
planetary). Gearboxes are sometimes called speed reducers.

Fig. 11.13 shows a triple-reduction speed reducer, with the upper half of the casing removed.
Note the use of helical and herringbone gear teeth and rolling element bearings. Note also
that the input and output shafts are parallel but not collinear.

Fig. 11.3 Triple-reduction speed reducer.

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Fig. 11.14 shows a ball pulveriser which is driven by a crown wheel and pinion (bevel gear)
train to turn the drive through ninety degrees.

Fig. 11.14 Ball pulveriser with crown wheel and pinion drive (from Black and Veatch).

In some situations it is necessary for space reasons to have the input and output shafts of a
gearbox collinear. Then an epicyclic gearbox is used, such as that in the pulveriser in Fig.
11.15. In Chapter 12 it is shown how epicyclic gearboxes are used with wind turbines.

Fig. 11.15 Pulveriser with epicyclic

gearbox (from Black and Veatch).

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13.7.1 Gear Trains

Simple Gear Trains
Several gears can be combined to for a gear train. Fig. 11.16 shows two simple gear trains in
which the shaft axes remain fixed; the two cases of a pinion (small) driving and external gear
(large) and an internal gear. In both cases the angular velocity ratio (gear ratio) is inversely
proportional to the number of teeth, N, indicated (and inversely proportional to the radii).
The external gears rotate in opposite directions and the internal gear rotates in the same
direction as the pinion.

Fig. 11.16 Simple gear trains with external and internal gears.

Next consider the simple gear train in Fig. 11.17. Gear 2-3 is a compound gear. Again, all
three shaft axes are stationary. The angular velocity ratio is the product of a number of ratios.

ω4  ω2  ω3   ω4 
=  −  +   − 
ω1  ω1  ω2   ω3 
 ω   ω 
=  − 2  ( +1)  − 4 
 ω1   ω3 
 ω  ω 
=  2  4 
 ω1   ω3 
Here compound gear 2-3 gives some speed
reduction but also acts as an idler to give
the input and output shafts the same
direction of rotation.

Fig. 11.17 Compound gear train.

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Epicyclic Gear Trains

To obtain a desired gear ratio with the input and output shafts collinear, it is often
advantageous to design a gear train so that one of the gears will have a planetary motion.
With this motion, a gear will rotate about its own axis while its centre rotates about another
axis. An epicyclic gear train is shown in Fig. 11.18. Three planet gears are usually used for
balance.

Fig. 11.18 Typical epicyclic gear train.

For ease of analysis, consider yourself as an observer riding with the arm, but unaware of the
arm’s rotation. As an observer you see only two simple gear trains with angular velocity
ratios given by:
ωP − ω A N
=− S (13.5)
ωS − ω A NP
and
ωR − ω A N
=+ P (13.6)
ωP − ω A NR
Rotation of the planet gear, ωP is about an axis which is itself rotating. So the shaft of the
planet gear is of no use as an input or output. ωP can be eliminated by multiplying (13.5) an
(13.6) to get:
ωR − ω A N
=− S (13.7)
ωS − ω A NR

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If the ring gear, sun gear or arm is held fixed (i.e. ω = 0), the other two can be used as input
and output with a gear ratio determined from (13.7). The other relation needed involves
either the teeth numbers, N, or the radii, r:
NR = NS + 2NP
rR = rS + 2rP
Lastly, epicyclic gear trains can be put in series to increase speed reduction, with the output
of one gear train becoming the input to the next.

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