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Analysis of Failure Modes of Bearing Outer Race Rotation

Article  in  SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars - Electronic and Electrical Systems · May 2015
DOI: 10.4271/2015-01-0146

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2015-01-0146
Published 04/14/2015
Copyright © 2015 SAE International
doi:10.4271/2015-01-0146
saepcelec.saejournals.org

Analysis of Failure Modes of Bearing Outer Race Rotation

Salah Alhasia
Lawrence Technological Univ.

Sharif Gindy
Sensor Data Technologies, lnc.

Selin Arslan, Badih Jawad, and Chris Riedel

Lawrence Technological Univ.

ABSTRACT
As the need for super high speed components (pumps, motors, etc) continue to grow rapidly, so does the need to make measurements at
speeds higher than ever before. Bearings are a major component in any rotating system. With continually increasing speeds, bearing
failure modes take new unconventional forms that often are not understood. Such measurements are impossible if bearings fail to perform.

This paper will address the dynamic modes a bearing passes through and the potential failure modes associated with each. A review of
the state of the art of current failure modes will be given, and then a hypothesis on some new failure modes associated with particular
speeds will be discussion. The paper will also describe an apparatus that was designed especially to study these phenomena. Range of
speed studied is 0- 60,000 rpm.

Preliminary measurements indicated that this range breaks into three different zones: low (0-15,000 rpm), moderate (15,000-25,000 rpm)
and high (25,000- 60,000 rpm). Each zone has its own unique possible failure characteristics. More emphasis will be given to the middle
zone where natural frequencies of bearing outer race play a major role.

CITATION: Alhasia, S., Gindy, S., Arslan, S., Jawad, B. et al., "Analysis of Failure Modes of Bearing Outer Race Rotation," SAE Int. J.
Passeng. Cars – Electron. Electr. Syst. 8(2):2015, doi:10.4271/2015-01-0146.

INTRODUCTION by the rolling element on the ring where it is in solid contact with the
housing underneath. Although these efforts discussed the phenomena
Recent high pace improvements in computers, automobiles and
of both the forward and the reverse rotation of the bearing outer race,
industrial machinery, have pushed the demand for superfast bearings.
they continue to leave serious questions unanswered.
A common problem that is becoming more prominent in high speed
bearing applications is the rotation of bearing outer races. Once the
Primarily, they conventionally consider bearing rotating load as the
outer race starts to creep; failure of the application is eminent.
primary cause of outer race rotation. The load on the bearing's being
fixed possibility has not been discussed.
While the problem of bearing outer race rotation is often discussed by
technical groups, it is seldom studied scientifically.
Additionally; the effects of a negligible load on the bearing on the
rotation mechanism for the outer race has not been studied.
Tsuyoshi Niwa[1] reviewed two mechanisms for bearing outer race
rotation suggested by Soda[2] and Ten et.al[3] Tsuyoshi also presented
Furthermore; the question of the repeated reverse and then forward
a travelling wave theory to explain outer ring rotation. He ascribed the
rotation, remains unanswered.
traveling wave in bearings to the strain resulting from the force applied

240
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Alhasia et al / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars – Electron. Electr. Syst. / Volume 8, Issue 2 (August 2015) 241

The research carried out by the authors' showed that bearing outer
race would rotate both in the forward and the reverse directions, with
very minimal fixed direction bearing load. Besides, J. Murata [4]
used FEM to generate a mechanism of inner ring creep.

While there is consensus between bearing manufacturers that

vibration is a very important factor in bearing proper operation, only
NSK [5] had the most research in this area, especially that of bearing
outer race rotation

This paper is an attempt to characterize outer race creeping

phenomena, understand its causes, and suggest some solutions.

Fig. 1. Modeling Bearing Outer Ring

PROPOSED HYPOTHESIS
The experimental work showed that, as the speed is increased, the
outer race passes through three unique zones. In the first zone, the
outer race is stationary till a certain speed is attained. As the speed is
carefully ramped up, three more phenomena are observed;

a. Outer race starts to hesitatingly creep in the reverse direction of

bearing rotation,
b. Outer race starts to hesitatingly creep in the same direction as
the bearing rotation,
c. Outer race takes off at increasingly higher speeds in the
direction of rotation.

While it may be easy to justify moving from (b) to (c), (a)

remains inexplicable.

POSTULATE
Treating the outer race as a vibration problem suggests two different
mechanisms of ring rotation cause.
Fig 2a & b. Radial and Axial Elastic Modes of Vibration
In (a) & (b) the natural frequency of the ring can explain its hesitation
to rotate. As the forced vibration caused by bearing rotating speed For the radial natural frequency of the outer ring, NSK [5] proposed
approaches the natural frequency of the outer ring it starts to rotate. It the following equation based on the theory of thin circular arc rod;
was further observed that touching the outer race with some tool
would immediately stop its rotation and associated noise subsides.

In zone (c), it is a condition of forced damped vibration that both the

centrifugal force and gyroscopic moments of the rolling element (1)
dominate ring rotation phenomenon.
Where
The authors believe that the natural frequency of the bearing outer ring
may well not only explain ring wandering in zones (a) and (b), but also fo: The natural frequency of individual bearing ring in the radial direction
may shed some light on the reverse in direction and its sequence.
E: Yong's modules (Mpa) (kgf/mm2)

MODELING γ: specific weight (N/mm3) kgf/mm3)

Consider the thin ring of Fig.1, as analogous to the bearing outer race.
This ring may vibrate in a radial (bending) mode as shown in Fig. 2a, g: gravity of acceleration (mm/sec2)
or an axial (shear) mode as shown in Fig.2b. These modes are known
as the elastic modes of vibration. In addition, there exist also rigid n: number of deformation waves in each mode (i+1)
body modes which are of no interest to this study.
I: area moment of inertia at the natural axis of the bearing ring (mm4)
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242 Alhasia et al / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars – Electron. Electr. Syst. / Volume 8, Issue 2 (August 2015)
A: Sectional area of bearing ring (mm2)
R: Radius of natural axis of bearing ring (mm)
The experimental work of this research was conducted on a high
speed angular contact bearing which demonstrated the exact outer
race creep phenomenon described above; the outer race started to
rotate at near 30,000 rpm. (i.e. 500 Hz)
Bearing: BARDEN Spindle Bearing No. XC71904E.T.P4S.UL
Outside Diameter: 42.00 mm (1.654in)
Width: 12 mm (0.473 in)
Outer ring thickness; ∼3.175 mm (0.125in)
Applying Equation (1) to this bearing's outer race led to the following
natural radial frequency for its primary mode;
As is commonly known, a body excited close to its natural frequency
will resonate creating severe noise and large amplitudes of vibration
which if not addressed leads to failure.
The excitation of the outer race depends on the number of rotating
elements and the number of events e.g. number of faults in any of the
races. The number of rotating elements in this bearing is 12.
Assuming only one event occurring;
Frequency of vibration f applied to outer race is given by the
equation (2):
(2)
Where;
N = bearing rotation speed (rpm)
n = number of rolling elements in the bearing
ψ = number of events in rolling elements track
Hence;
Very close to the natural frequency of the outer ring.
It is very important to note that as the exciting vibration frequency f
depends on the number of events in the rolling element track, the
speed at which zones (a) and (b) occur will differ accordingly
Creep Direction
It is postulated without mathematical proof what may give a viable
explanation to the reversing creep directions in zones (a) and (b).
In Fig. 3- as the forced vibration frequency f is increased, the amplitude
X of the vibrating object (outer ring) increases. If the forced frequency
continues to increase, till the natural frequency fo of the outer ring is
reached, (f/fo = 1) resonance accompanied by severe noise and harsh
vibration (large amplitudes) occurs. Passing quickly by the natural
frequency of the ring fo any further increase of f will be accompanied
by declining vibration amplitudes till stability is attained again.
Fig. 3. Typical vibration characteristics of a body excited around its natural
frequency. curtsy of “theory of vibration with applications”- 1981 Prentice Hall
In this paper, it is postulated that the cause of the change of creep
directions, is the change from a positive (f/X) before fo to negative
(f/X). Surprisingly, the typical vibration curve, Fig. 3, also explains
the reason vibration close to the natural frequency of the ring (before
and after) subsided when the ring was slightly touched. The two
asymptotic curves at f / fo = 1 represent a free vibration of the ring
without damping ξ = 0. Touching the ring adds some damping and is
represented by the other curves ξ = 0.1 - 1.0 in Fig. 3.
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
In addition to the qualitative analysis of the phenomenon,
quantitative experiments were also done to measure torques
associated with ring rotation.
An apparatus designed for this study is shown in Fig. 4. It allows
access to the bearing outer race to observe the start of race rotation.
Also an accurate strain gage torque sensor was specially designed to
measure the torque as the race starts to rotate.
In zones (a) and (b), it was difficult to measure any torque as the ring
stopped to rotate as soon as the torque sensor was engaged. However, the
torque sensor is mostly intended for zone (c) when ring rotation is no
longer associated with vibrations due to operating close to resonance.
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Alhasia et al / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars – Electron. Electr. Syst. / Volume 8, Issue 2 (August 2015) 243

CONCLUSION
The postulate that the natural radial frequency of the outer ring
explains both its hesitating creep and their reversing directions was
explained and mathematically proven.

An expression for the torque acting on the outer ring at super high
speeds was developed. This expression will help in modeling the ring
at these speeds as a forced damped vibration problem. The
appropriate damping coefficient ξ and its mechanism will solve the
ring rotation problem at these speeds.

NOMENCLATURE
fo - The natural frequency of individual bearing ring in the
radial direction
Fig. 4. Experimental Apparatus E - Yong's modules (Mpa) (kgf/mm2)
γ - specific weight (N/mm3) kgf/mm3)
g - gravity of acceleration (mm/sec2)
n - number of deformation waves in each mode (i+1)
I - area moment of inertia at the natural axis of the bearing ring (mm4)
A - Sectional area of bearing ring (mm2)
R - Radius of natural axis of bearing ring (mm)
D - Outside Diameter (mm) (in)
B - Width (mm) (in)
T - Outer ring thickness (mm) (in)
N - Bearing rotating speed (rpm)
n - Number of rolling element
ψ - Number of event in rolling elements track
f - Frequency of forced vibration

Fig. 5. Governing Equations for Ring Rotation in Proposed Zones

X - Amplitude of vibration
fo - Natural frequency of outer ring
Further torque measurements at zone (c) speeds showed that ring ξ - Damping ratio
rotations to be associated with heavier torques that are not easy to
Tcf - Torque induced by the centrifugal force of the rolling element
stop as was the case in (a) and (b).
Tgyro - Torque induced from the gyroscopic motion of the rolling
element
Equation (3) [6] for the torque acting on the outer ring in this zone is
developed. Preliminary torque measurements using apparatus of Fig. Tpl - Torque induced by the preloading force washers
4 showed promising results. Detailed study of this zone is not the
subject of this paper. REFERENCES
1. Tsuyoshi, N., “A Creep Mechanism of Rolling Bearings”, NTN
Technical Review No. 81, 2013.
2. Soda: Bearings, Iwanami Shoten (1964), 196.
(3)
3. Ten, Sakajiri. Takamura, Yukawa. “Bearing outer ring creep” NSK
Technical Journal No. 20 (2007) 13.
Where; 4. Murata, J., Onizuka, T., “Generation Mechanism of Inner Ring
Creep”, Technical Report, Koyo Engineering journal English Edition
Tcf; is the torque induced by the centrifugal force of the rolling element No. 166E (2005)
5. Motion & Control NSK, Technical, Report [www.page] URL://http://
Tgyro; is the torque induced from the gyroscopic motion of the www.nskamericas.com/cps/rde/xbcr/na_es/Technical_Report_NSK_
CAT_E728g.pdf
rolling element 6. Alhasia, S., “Mathematical and Experimental Modeling of Bearing
Outer Race Creep at High Speeds” Ph.D. Proposal, Lawrence
Tpl; is the torque induced by the preloading force washers Technological University,Sep. (2013)

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