CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 59 (2010) 365–368

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CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology

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Thermo-mechanical model of spindles

T. Holkup a, H. Cao b, P. Kolář (3)a, Y. Altintas (1)b,*, J. Zelený (1)a
a
Research Center of Manufacturing Technology, The Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
b
Manufacturing Automation Laboratory, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This paper presents a Finite-Element-method-based thermo-mechanical model of spindles with rolling
Spindle
bearings. The heat generated in the bearings and the motor is transferred to the ambient air, the motor
Temperature
coolant and the spindle structure, and causes thermal expansion of spindle parts. The experimentally
Finite-Element method (FEM)
validated thermo-mechanical spindle model predicts temperature distribution and thermal growth, as well
as bearing stiffness and contact loads, under specified operating conditions. Transient changes in
temperatures, deformations, viscosity of the lubricant, and bearing stiffness are considered in the solution.
The predicted bearing properties are used to estimate the changes in the dynamic behavior of spindles.
ß 2010 CIRP.

1. Introduction thermal growth, together with transient changes in bearing

High-speed spindles are key components in machining dies,
mold and aerospace parts. The speed, power, torque, dynamic
stiffness and thermal properties of the spindle determine the
productivity and quality of machining operations.
Angular contact bearings are most commonly used in high
speed spindles due to their low friction characteristics and cost-
effective maintenance [1]. The bearings are preloaded to maintain
spindle stiffness under varying cutting conditions and a wide speed
range [2]. In addition to the electric motor, friction in the bearings
is the main heat source in spindles, leading to thermal expansion of
spindle parts. The thermal growth of the spindle shaft and housing
changes the preload in the bearings, which in turn alters both the
friction and the dynamic stiffness of the bearings. In short, there is
a closed-loop relationship among preload, friction, thermal growth
and spindle dynamics. If bearing preload is not controlled by
considering the above-mentioned issues, spindles may fail due to
bearing seizure [3].
Several studies have been published which focus on
developing a thermo-mechanical spindle model in order to
predict spindle behavior under various operating conditions.
Bossmanns and Tu presented a model of heat transfer among
spindle parts, but did not consider the feedback effect on the
thermal properties of the bearing [4]. Shin’s group presented a
Finite-Element (FE) model which considers the interaction
between heat, thermal growth and resulting steady state
stiffness changes in the bearings using two-dimensional
axisymmetric elements [5,6], similarly Jedrzejewski et al. [7].
However, the transient changes, which lead to thermal
instability and bearing seizure, were not considered.
This paper presents a thermo-mechanical model of spindles.
The model allows the prediction of temperature distribution and
* Corresponding author.
stiffness and contact loads under specified operating conditions.
2. Thermo-mechanical model of spindles
The proposed predictive thermo-mechanical model allows a
transient simulation which considers the bearings, the spindle
parts and their thermo-mechanical interaction.
Bearing model: The mechanical model of rolling bearings uses
Jones’ [8] theory. The effect of centrifugal forces acting on rolling
elements, and of nonlinear Hertzian contact between the balls and
bearing rings are considered. The bearing model predicts contact
angles, contact forces and stiffness as a function of angular speed of
the spindle, relative displacements of bearing rings or preload
forces exerted on the rings [2].
Model of spindle parts: 2D axisymmetric elements are used for
modeling the spindle shaft, housing and spacers in commercial
ANSYS FE system. Thermal solution is used for the heat transfer
analysis which computes temperatures, while structural solution
predicts deformations caused by thermal expansion and internal
forces from the bearings.
2.1. Thermal model
The model of transient heat transfer is based on Fourier’s law of
conduction combined with the first law of thermodynamics on
energy conservation:
@T
c  rT ðk  rTÞ þ Q ¼ 0;
@t
where T = f(x,y,z,t) is the temperature distribution in space and
time, c the specific heat and Q the heat source, k is the conductivity
matrix and 5 the spatial gradient operator.
This behavior is included in the axisymmetric option of the
PLANE55 element in ANSYS. The FE model includes also the
following thermal elements with lumped properties depicted in
Fig. 1.

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doi:10.1016/j.cirp.2010.03.021
366 T. Holkup et al. / CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 59 (2010) 365–368
Fig. 1. Thermal FEM model of a bearing and its surroundings.
 thermal mass representing all rolling elements Cb;
 thermal resistance Rb between rolling elements and the cavity
fluid [9]; Ro and Ri between rolling elements and rings is a
function of contact forces; Rri and Rro between bearing rings and
housing or shaft, proportional to actual clearance.
Heat sources in each bearing are divided into inner ring (IR) heat
Pi and outer ring (OR) heat Po. Half of the heat is distributed to the
rings, and the other half is applied on the rolling elements at each
contact [5,10]. Contact areas marked with bold lines are considered
‘thermally stiff’, distributing lumped effects and making ideal
connections in the model.
Solid surfaces in the model can be subjected to both external
boundary conditions (i.e. convection to outer air) and internal heat
exchange between surfaces (i.e. the internal cavity between
rotating and stationary parts). These effects are modeled either
by lumped thermal resistors or by distributed convective boundary
conditions with constant or variable bulk temperature [9].
2.2. Structural model
Static structural analysis computes deformations of FE ele-
ments including thermal effects. The general equation based on
Hooke’s law is as follows:
e ¼ D1  s þ a  DT  m;
Fig. 2. Radial displacement of the FE model during simulation—effects of preload,
centrifugal forces, temperatures and radial mounting conditions (IR press-fit, OR
clearance); properties of CONTAC12 elements.
where e and s are the strain and stress vectors and a is the thermal
expansion coefficient. D is the ‘elasticity matrix of moduli’ and
m = [1 1 1 0 0 0]T a vector which applies thermal effects only to
translational strains. The axisymmetric option of the PLANE42
element in ANSYS is used. The elements of rotating components
(shaft and inner rings) consider centrifugal forces, expand radially
and shrink axially due to nonzero Poisson’s ratio.
Nonlinear CONTAC12 elements are used for modeling radial
press fit of the bearing with clearances dr0o and dr0i (Fig. 2) The
model considers not only the equations of the ball–ring contacts
but also the flexibility of bearing rings and the interference with
their surroundings.
Any type of bearing configuration and any type of preload can
be considered in the structural FEM model. Rigid preload assumes
constant position of bearing rings determined by spacers and rigid
spindle parts, while constant preload assumes ideal sliding
movement of outer rings of one group (side) of the assembly,
adapting to the constant force boundary condition.
Structural displacements of bearing rings resulting from the FE
analysis serve as input parameters for the bearing model which
predicts contact forces in bearings. These are in turn applied to the
bearing rings of the FEM model and affect its deformations.
2.3. Transient simulation
The data flow (Fig. 3) during the transient solution loop is
controlled by a program in ANSYS. Since the bearing and the FEM
models contain nonlinearities, iterative loops based on the
Newton–Raphson approach are used for finding mechanical
equilibrium at each time increment. It is possible to connect both
models either by direct coupling and incorporating nonlinear
equations of the bearing model inside the FEM analysis, or by
indirect coupling using look-up tables and interpolation [10].
The time increment dt in the thermal solution is sufficiently
small to ensure that all nonlinearities (contact forces in bearings
and resulting properties—stiffnesses and heat sources) are up to
date. If these change by more than 1% during two subsequent time
steps, the analysis returns back and chooses a smaller step.
3. Experimental results and simulations
3.1. Experimental estimation of friction in bearings
There are three main contributions to the total frictional torque
in a ball–groove contact [11]: (1) load friction caused by rolling and
proportional to contact forces; (2) viscous friction caused by
viscosity of lubricant—nonlinearly proportional to speed; (3)
spinning friction caused by kinematics of rolling elements (if
Fig. 3. Data flow in the thermo-mechanical model.
 T. Holkup et al. / CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 59 (2010) 365–368
Fig. 4. Experimental test rig for estimation of frictional torque in spindle bearings.
contact angles differ from zero value, the rolling element
necessarily spins in one of bearing grooves and creates heat).
The friction in bearings is measured by monitoring the passive
torque on an experimental test rig shown in Fig. 4. The friction is
expressed as an empirical function of speed n (rpm), preload Fa (N),
kinematic viscosity n (cSt = mm2 s1) of the lubricant, and bearing
parameters. A sample total friction torque Mtot (N mm) is given for
Fig. 5. Top: experimental spindle with two bearings driven by a machine tool
spindle; its FE model: temperatures at t = 1000 s, n = 15,000 rpm; bottom:
simulated and measured preload in a two-bearing test spindle, two different
classes of mounting preload, n = 15,000 rpm.
367
the SKF 7010CD (50 mm bore, 158 contact angle) bearings with
grease lubrication used in the experimental spindle (Fig. 5):
Mtot ¼ 8:41  104  F a 4=3 þ 6:75  1011  ðn  nÞ11=5
þ 8:15  107  F a  n
The viscosity n has been estimated through monitoring internal
bearing temperature and known temperature–viscosity properties
of the lubricant.
3.2. Verification experiments on a test spindle
The test spindle with bearings in ‘back-to-back’ configuration
and rigid preload was driven by a machine tool spindle as shown in
Fig. 5. The spacer between outer rings of both bearings is
instrumented with strain gauges to measure the axial preloading
force. The internal design of the test spindle is equivalent to its FEM
model shown in the figure.
The simulated and predicted preload forces for two different
classes of preloading displacements (7 and 21 mm) are shown in
Fig. 5. The heat sources in bearings increase the temperature of
components having the lowest thermal capacity—balls and
rotating parts, and their radial expansion increases the preload.
The preload is relieved when the outer rings and housing gradually
warm up and expand. This effect can potentially lead to thermo-
mechanical instability if the temperature–preload feedback is
excessively positive, which may occur when the spindle speed is
too high.
3.3. Selected examples of simulations
The experimentally validated simulation model has been used
to predict contact forces, angles, internal relative displacements
and contact status of inner/outer rings of the bearings, as well as
Fig. 6. Top: Weiss spindle with 2-3 ‘back-to-back’ bearing configuration; FE model
temperatures at t = 1000 s, n = 10,000 rpm; bottom: time-history of bearing preload
(Fa) and radial stiffness at spindle nose (Kr), two types of preload, n = 10,000 rpm;
numbering from the spindle nose.
368 T. Holkup et al. / CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 59 (2010) 365–368
Fig. 7. Top: a three-bearing spindle with 2-1 ‘back-to-back’ configuration, time-
history of preload (Fa) of all bearings at n = 15,000 rpm, FE model temperatures at
t = 1970 s; bottom: time-history of radial stiffness (Kr) of all three bearings; bottom
right: detail of stiffness after spindle start-up.
the temperature distribution and thermal deformation in the
spindle assembly.
Example 1: An experimental belt driven spindle reported in [2]
has been modeled as shown in Fig. 6. The spindle has GMN
HYKH61914 and HYKH61911 bearings which are the only heat
sources in the model. The spindle is modeled considering both
main types of preload: constant and rigid, with equivalent initial
value Fa0 = 1500 N. The resultant time-history of bearing preload
(Fa) and radial stiffness at spindle nose (Kr) for both types of
preload is shown in Fig. 6.
Example 2: A spindle with three SKF 7010CD bearings and rigid
preload has also been simulated for detailed tracking of the effects
of mounting preload, centrifugal forces and temperatures during
n = 15,000 rpm operation. Bearing stiffness in Fig. 7-bottom right
shows the sequence of these effects.
Discussion of results: In spindles with bearings preloaded with a
constant force, changing temperatures alter the preload distribu-
tion among bearing groups and affect the structural dynamic
properties (Fig. 6-bottom left). In case of rigid preload, changing
temperatures produce extra thermal preload which has positive or
negative sign depending on particular spindle design, operational
conditions and time after the spindle start-up (Fig. 6-bottom right;
Fig. 7). The proposed model can simulate both types of preload and
also spindles with more than one preloading system.
4. Conclusions
The paper presents a simulation model for predicting the effects
of temperature distribution in the spindle system. The transient
changes of temperatures may alter the stiffness and contact forces
in the bearings which can lead to seizure and damage of the
spindles.
The presented model can be used to simulate transient
interaction between internal bearing behavior on the one hand,
and heat transfer and structural deformations in spindle parts on the
other hand. The model can be used for any type of preload and any
number of angular contact ball bearings. Thermal displacements
resulting from thermo-mechanical simulation can be interfaced
with nonlinear ‘bearing models’ of purely mechanical models, and
provide advanced calculations of spindle dynamics [2].
Acknowledgements
This research is supported by: the 1M0507 grant of the
Government of the Czech Republic (Holkup, Kolář, Zelený),
National Research Council of Canada (Altintas), the National Basic
Research Program of China: No. 2005CB724100 of State Key
Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering (Cao).
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