Materials Today: Proceedings 44 (2021) 1750–1754

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Analysis of a 440C steel roller bearing using finite element method

Aisha Muhammad a,c,⇑, Mohammed A.H. Ali a, Ibrahim Haruna Shanono b,d, Nor Rul Hasma Abdullah b
a
Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia
b
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia
c
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria
d
Department of Electrical Engineering, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: One of the important component of working machines or conveyer belt is the roller bearing. They are
Received 26 July 2020 applied in different sectors ranging from automotive to heavy duty machineries in high speed drills.
Received in revised form 31 August 2020 Their performance greatly affects the machines. This study illustrate the analysis of the contact stress
Accepted 22 November 2020
developed in a roller bearing using ANSYS software. The Finite Element simulating results revels maxi-
Available online 21 January 2021
mum stress distribution value of 6.597E-09 MPa under the applied loading condition appearing on the
roller balls. The total moment for the variation to time is 2.5868E-07 experienced at 7.7 s while the rel-
Keywords:
ative rotation in the Z-direction is at its peak at 6 s. Therefore, this study shows that FEA in ANSYS has
ANSYS
Finite element method
provide a faster and cheaper method compared to the production of numerous prototypes.
Roller bearing Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Von-misses stress Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
Joint probe ence on Materials, Processing & Characterization.

1. Introduction It has become dominant for machine designers to analyze the

One of the important component of working machines or con-
veyer belt is the roller bearing. Thus, the need for an increase in
the production of accurate, reliable and load-bearing roller bear-
ings. They are applied in different sectors ranging from automotive
to heavy duty machineries in high speed drills.
In the year 1500, Leonardo da Vinci developed the first ball
bearing in his helicopter design for rotation of the rotation friction
reduction of the large top large screw [1]. In the year 1794, about
249 years later, Philip Vaughan patented another ball bearing that
described how the iron balls can be positioned between the wheel
and axle in a carriage. Thus, reducing friction by freely letting the
wheels to rotate. The bicycle used by James Moore in the first
word’s bicycle race was designed by a Parisian mechanic, Jules
Suriray who gain the first French ball bearing patent in the year
1869. Around the year 1907, the SKF ball- bearing manufacturer
(Sven Wingquist) designed and developed the modern auto-
aligning ball bearing. The spherical ball and roller bearing were
respectively developed by George Schaeffler and Wilhelm Schaef-
fler around the tear 2002 [1]
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ayshermuhd@gmail.com (A. Muhammad).
strength and rigidity of rolling bearings. However, it is quite chal-
lenging to theoretically perform such analysis (stress, rigidity etc.)
accurately. To analyze the contact pressure and rigidity of ball
bearings, Hertz theory [2] are normally used. However, in large
deformations, hertz theory is not precise as it only considers the
deformation in the ball bearings contact areas without considering
the bearing housings, outer and inner ring. Similarly, the edge
loads that are in the contact surface of roller bearings cannot be
solved using Hertz contact theory. In order to solve this problems,
authors in, [3 4] proposed an approximate model that the roller
ball is in contact with a surface of infinite length. The structural
deformations of the inner and outer ring are also not considered
using this approximate model, thus, rendering it not precise for
roller bearing contact analysis.
Finite element method (FEM) was proposed in [5] for contact
analysis of a roller bearings. FEM have proven to be successful in
analysis of engineering structures. Many researchers have studied
the analysis of rolling bearings using FEM. The study of contact
analysis of a thrust ball using FE simulation was presented by
Wang [6]. Theoretical study of contact analysis was presented by
Qi [7]. Analysis was conducted on deep groove ball bearings in a
system having multiple bodies. Similar method was adopted by
Zhang [8] on an angular ball bearing to calculate the stiffness
and loading relationship.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.11.908
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Materials, Processing & Characterization.
A. Muhammad, Mohammed A.H. Ali, Ibrahim Haruna Shanono et al.
The dynamic analysis of roller bearings in multi-body systems
were presented in, [9 10 11]. A lumped mass-spring model was
used by Liu et al. [12] to study the vibration response of a ball bear-
ing. Finite element explicit dynamics analysis of a defective roller
bearing was also performed by Singh et al. [13] to analyze the
vibration response. Similarly, the ball bearing was analyzed by
Bovet et al. under high loads to determine the internal dynamics
of the ball bearing. Analysis of ball bearings and cylindrical rollers
have been conducted by researchers using specially developed
software
This paper provides a contact analysis of a roller bearing using
Finite Element simulation in ANSYS.
2. Methodology
To solve the engineering problem, FEM is used where-by the
structure is subdivided into the smaller element. Using this
method, complex structures can be solved making FEM a desirable
approach. A numerical method which uses a finite element that
involves dividing a system into smaller and simpler parts to find
an approximate solution to boundary value problems while mini-
mizing any related error function is known as Finite Element
Method [14,15]
A finite element analysis software used in the analysis of vari-
ous engineering structures for different applications is the ANSYS
software. ANSYS is a general-purpose finite-element modelling
plan for numerically addressing a wide range of mechanical prob-
lems. The ANSYS program is a useful, multipurpose evaluation
device that can be made use of in a wide array of design tech-
niques. [16]. Failures of engineering structures makes analysis to
become very significant to ascertain safety of the structure because
failure of the whole or part of the structure leads to high risk of life
and financial loss. [17]
The ball bearing model is designed in Solid works software and
them imported into the ANSYS software for analysis. After import-
ing the geometry, the definition of an element and material prop-
erties is carryout. Ball bearing can be made from different
materials and for efficient analysis, correct material properties
need to be set. In this study, structural steel is the material used.
[14].
2.1. Material modelling
Material properties are defined based on the type of simulation
analysis to be performed. For an efficient and qualitative analysis
of material, the material properties need to be correctly and care-
fully entered. These materials which can be either linear or nonlin-
ear, isotropic or orthotropic, constant or temperature dependent
needs to be defined correctly. Depending on the aim of the analy-
sis, some mechanical properties such as density, strength and coef-
ficient of thermal expansion definition is optional [14]. Knowing
and declaring the correct value of the material property is very
useful for design analysis purpose. The different types of material
indicated by different density will show different analysis result
outcome as well. The Young’s modulus of a material alternatively
called modulus of elasticity is a numerical constant that describes
the elasticity and measures the capability of a solid to withstand
changes when subjected to tension or compression in a certain
direction. The higher Young’s modulus, the stiffer (i.e. how it
deflects under load) is the material which will require a much
higher amount of load to deform. Poisson’s ration which is the ratio
of compression to the expansion of material together with Young’s
modulus (ratio of stress to strain) defines the strength and nature
of how a material structure deforms based on a particular con-
straint. Material deformation to due uniform volume and opposing
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Materials Today: Proceedings 44 (2021) 1750–1754
forces are described by the bulk and shear modulus respectively
Two other essential properties that determine when the material
losses its elastic behavior and the maximum stress a material can
undergo are the yields and tensile strength respectively [17].
There is no specific absolute material for roller bearings they are
manufactured using metals, plastics, composite materials depend-
ing on the required working condition, speed, and load application.
The material used should be sufficiently well built to have high
level of fatigue and impact resistance bearing [18]
Roller bearings can be made of Chrome steel SAE 52,100 mate-
rial which has an excellent wear resistant ability and a 64HRC
Rockwell hardness factor. Such roller bearings can function at tem-
peratures of 120 °C to as high as 220 °C. However, one drawback of
the chrome steel bearings material is the low chromium content
that makes them vulnerable to corrosion [19]
Bearings made of Stainless steel (AISI 440C) materials have a
much higher chromium content (up to 18%) that making them bet-
ter to the chrome steel material in handling corrosion resistance.
They can operate at higher temperatures of up to about 250 °C.
However, they are costly to produce and have low hardness and
overall load-carrying capacity [19]. AISI 440C is commonly used
in corrosive environments and in applications where corrosion
resistance is more important than load capacity, such as in instru-
ment ball bearings [20] . Table 1 gives the chemical composition
comparison of the two materials.
Some other types of metallic materials used in bearings include,
[20 21] (Harnoy, 2002): Babbitt metal (Tin-based babbitt and lead-
based babbitt), Bronze, Copper-lead alloys, Cast iron, Aluminium
alloys, Silver
The material used in this analysis is structural steel with the
said material properties given in Table 2. The properties of ball
bearing are inputted with higher accuracy as it determines how
flexible the structure will be, and it changes, thereby affecting
the amount of deformation produced. By double-clicking on the
engineering data cell, the details are fed in with Young’s modulus
E = 200 GPa, Poisson’s ratio m = 0.3, and density q = 7850 kg/m3.
2.2. Transient analysis
Using a tetrahedral meshing method, a face mesh sizing of
35 mm was applied to the inner and outer faces of the bearing. A
similar face sizing mesh of 7 mm was applied to the faces interact-
ing with the rollers with a mesh relevance of 100. After meshing
of the structure, the design constraints, a primary step required in
an FE analysis are set in a way that represents the ball bearing
actual real situation. To determine how the contact bodies are
going to move relative to each other, a frictional bonded contact
is used for the connection contact of the of the inner and outer
rings respectively. A body to ground revolute joint was applied to
the inner face of the bearing while a body-ground planer joint
was applied all to the faces of the rolls.
Table 1
Steel roller bearing chemical composition (Kumaraswamidhas, 2018).
Elements Weight (%)
Chrome steel SAE 52,100 Stainless steel (AISI 440C)
Carbon 0.95–1.1 0.95–1.2
Chromium 1.3–1.6 16–18
Silicon 0.15–0.35 1max
Manganese 0.5max 1max
Molybdenum 0.08 max 0.75max
Phosphorous 0.012max 0.04max
Nickel 0.25max 0.25max
Sulphur 0.25max 0.3max
A. Muhammad, Mohammed A.H. Ali, Ibrahim Haruna Shanono et al. Materials Today: Proceedings 44 (2021) 1750–1754

Table 2
Properties of materials.

Material Type/ Property Structural steel

Young’s Modulus 2E + 11 Pa
Density 7850 kgm^-3
Poisson’s ratio 0.30
Bulk modulus 1.6667E + 11 Pa
Shear Modulus 7.6923E + 10 Pa
Tensile strength 2.5E + 08 Pa
Ultimate shear strength 4.6E + 08 Pa

The transient analysis is carried out in the Mechanical APDL sol-

ver to determine the transient response of the roller bearing under
the design constraints. Two other essential properties that deter-
mine when the material losses it’s elastic behavior and the maxi-
mum stress a material can undergo are the yields and tensile Fig. 2. Joint rotation application.

strength respectively [14]. With the loading conditions set as

shown in Figs. 1 and 2, simulation was performed.

3. Result and discussion

As a result of the unforeseen failing of design structures, analy-

sis comes to be really considerable to identify the safety of these
structures. Such failures over a details period of time leads to the
unexpected collapse of the structure. Failures of engineering struc-
tures make analysis to become very significant to ascertain the
safety of the structure because a failure of the whole or part of
the structure leads to high risk of life and financial loss [22]. This
section presents the analysis result performed. Fig. 3 shows the
pressure plot with a maximum value of 2.74 MPa
The Joint Probe in the are shown in Fig. 4. Figure a shows the
total force in all direction for the variation of time. The total
moment for the variation to time is displayed in figure b which
has a maximum 2.5868E-07 experienced at 7.7 s while the relative
rotation in the Z-direction is shown in figure c experiencing its
peak at 6 s. This are further descripted graphically in Fig. 5
A designer makes uses of Von-misses stress evaluation to estab-
lish the failure pattern of the structure. When the maximum stress
value is more than the material strength, then failure will occur Fig. 3. Pressure plot.
[23]. Von Mises-Hencky distortion energy theory is one of the cri-
teria used by designers to predict the failure of structures, Von-
Mises stress is ideally used for ductile materials [24]. Fig. 6 shows 4. Conclusion
the stress plot on the rollers and inner ring respectively. A maxi-
mum value of 6.597E-09 MPa was observed under the applied From the above study, the following conclusions can be
loading condition having the maximum on the roller balls. mentioned:

Fig. 1. Bearing Load application.

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A. Muhammad, Mohammed A.H. Ali, Ibrahim Haruna Shanono et al. Materials Today: Proceedings 44 (2021) 1750–1754

Fig. 4. Joint probe (a)1 (b)2 (c) 3.

Fig. 5. Joint Probe (a)1, (b)2, (c) 3.

1753
A. Muhammad, Mohammed A.H. Ali, Ibrahim Haruna Shanono et al.
Fig. 6. Equivalent stress.
The FEA result displays the maximum stress values which can
be used in predicting future failure in the roller bearing.
The accuracy of result depends on the meshing size selection.
The total moment for the variation to time is 2.5868E-07 expe-
rienced at 7.7 s while the relative rotation in the Z-direction is at its
peak at 6 s.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Aisha Muhammad: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft.
Mohammed A.H. Ali: Conceptualization, Supervision. Ibrahim
Haruna Shanono: . Nor Rul Hasma Abdullah: Supervision.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Universiti Malaysia Pahang
(UMP) for providing the research grant (PGRS1903182) and Min-
istry of High Education (MOHE) - under research grants:
RDU180313 and the facilities.
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