Chapter 4

Design of Bearings
Outline
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Types of Journal Bearing
⚫ Basic Models of Lubrication
⚫ Types of Rolling Contact Bearings
⚫ Selection of Bearing Type
⚫ Bearing Life
⚫ Design for Cyclic Load
⚫ Static and Dynamic Loading of Ball
and Roller Bearing
 Introduction
Bearing is a mechanical element that permits relative
motion between two parts, such as the shaft and the
housing, with minimum friction. The functions of the
bearing are as follows:
(i) The bearing ensures free rotation of the shaft or
the axle with minimum friction.
(ii) The bearing supports the shaft or the axle and holds it
in the correct position.
(iii) The bearing takes up the forces that act on the shaft or
the axle and transmits them to the frame or the
foundation.
 Application of Bearings

Generally From a small supermarket trolley to

huge power plants, a great number of light-duty, as
well as industrial equipment, could not function
without the use of bearings in some form.
 Bearing Classification
• Bearings are classified in different ways.
1) Depending upon the direction of force that acts on them
 Radial bearings: supports the load, which is
perpendicular to the axis of the shaft
 Thrust bearings: supports the load, which acts along
the axis of the shaft.
Cont.…
2) Depending upon the type of friction between the shaft and the
bearing surface
 Sliding contact bearings: are also called plain bearings,
journal bearings or sleeve bearings. In this case, the surface of
the shaft slides over the surface of the bush resulting in
friction and wear. In order to reduce the friction, these two
surfaces are separated by a film of lubricating oil. The bush is
made of special bearing material like white metal or
bronze.
 Rolling contact bearings: also called antifriction bearings or
simply ball bearings. Rolling elements, such as balls or
rollers, are introduced between the surfaces that are in relative
motion. In this type of bearing, sliding friction is replaced by
rolling friction.
 Sliding Contact Bearings
 Sliding bearings require direct sliding of the
load- carrying member on its support, as distinguished
from rolling-element bearings.
 Sliding bearings (also called plain bearings) are of
two types:
1. Journal or sleeve bearings, which are cylindrical and
support radial loads (those perpendicular to the shaft
axis); and
2. Thrust bearings, which are generally flat and, in the
case of a rotating shaft, support loads in the direction
of the shaft axis.
 Sliding Contact Bearings Classification
1) Hydrodynamic lubrication and
2) Hydrostatic lubrication.
1. Hydrodynamic lubrication: is defined as a system
of lubrication in which the load-supporting fluid
film is created by the shape and relative motion of the
sliding surfaces.

Figure: Hydrodynamic Lubrication (a) Journal at Rest

(b) Journal Starts to Rotate (c) Journal at Full Speed
Cont.…
 A journal bearing is a sliding contact bearing working on
hydrodynamic lubrication and which supports the load in
radial direction.
 The portion of the shaft inside the bearing is called
journal and hence the name ‘journal’ bearing.
Cont.…
2. Hydrostatic Lubrication: is defined as a system of
lubrication in which the load-supporting fluid film
separating the two surfaces is created by an external
source, like a pump, supplying sufficient fluid under
pressure.
 Since the lubricant is supplied under pressure, this type of
bearing is called externally pressurized bearing.

Figure: Hydrostatic Lubrication: (a) Journal at Rest (b) Journal at Full Speed
Cont.…

 Compared with hydrostatic bearings, hydrodynamic

bearings are simple in construction, easy to maintain
and lower in initial as well as maintenance
cost.
 Hydrostatic bearings, although costly, offer the
following advantages:
1. high load carrying capacity even at low speeds;
2. no starting friction; and
3. no rubbing action at any operating speed or load.
Cont.…
Main difference between hydrodynamic and hydrostatic
bearing
At rest Start At full rotation
rotation
• Lubrication provided by
atmospheric pressure difference
• Eccentricity is there
• At very high speed
• Application i.e. steam turbine, IC
engine

• Lubrication oil is provided by

pump
• No eccentricity is
there(concentric)
• Pressure supplied may increase
• Application i.e. Heavy
1 machinery, milling machine
0
Types of Rolling Contact Bearings

 Depending upon the type of rolling element, the

bearings are classified as ball bearing, cylindrical roller
bearing, taper roller bearing and needle bearing.

 Depending upon the direction of load, the bearings are also

classified as radial bearing and thrust bearing. There
is, however, no clear distinction between these two
groups.

 Certain types of radial bearings can also take thrust

load, while some thrust bearings are capable of taking
 The types of rolling contact bearings, which are
frequently used, are shown in Fig (next slide). The
characteristics of these bearings are as follows:

(i) Deep Groove Ball Bearing: The most frequently used bearing
is the deep groove ball bearing

In this type of bearing, the radius of the ball is slightly less than
the radii of curvature of the grooves in the races.
Kinematically, this gives a point contact between the balls and the
races. Therefore, the balls and the races may roll freely without
any sliding.
Deep groove ball bearing has the following advantages
(a) Due to relatively large size of the balls, deep groove ball bearing
has high load carrying capacity.
(b)Deep groove ball bearing takes loads in the radial as well as axial
direction.
(c) Due to point contact between the balls and races, frictional loss
and the resultant temperature rise is less in this bearing

(d)Deep groove ball bearing generates less noise due to point contact.
The disadvantages of deep groove ball bearings are as follows:

1) Deep groove ball bearing is not self-aligning. Accurate alignment

between axes of the shaft and the housing bore is required.
2) Deep groove ball bearing has poor rigidity compared with roller
bearing..
 (ii)Cylindrical Roller Bearing: A cylindrical roller bearing
consists of relatively short rollers that are positioned and guided by
the cage.
Cylindrical roller bearing offers the following advantages:
(a) Due to line contact between rollers and races, the radial load
carrying capacity of the cylindrical roller bearing is very high.
(b) Cylindrical roller bearing is more rigid than ball bearing.
(c) The coefficient of friction is low and frictional loss is less in
high-speed applications.
The disadvantages of cylindrical roller bearing are as follows:
(a) In general, cylindrical roller bearing cannot take thrust load.
(b) Cylindrical roller bearing is not self-aligning. It cannot tolerate
misalignment. It needs precise alignment between axes of the
shaft and the bore of the housing.
(c) Cylindrical roller bearing generates more noise.
 (iii)Angular Contact Bearing: the grooves in inner and outer
races are so shaped that the line of reaction at the contact between
balls and races makes an angle with the axis of the bearing.

 This reaction has two components, radial and axial.

 Therefore, angular contact bearing can take radial and thrust

loads.

 Angular contact bearings are often used in pairs, either side

by side or at the opposite ends of the shaft, in order to take the
thrust load in both directions.
Angular contact bearings offer the following advantages:

a) Angular contact bearing can take both radial and

thrust loads.

b) The load carrying capacity of angular contact

bearing is more than that of deep groove ball bearing.

The disadvantages of angular contact bearings are as follows:

c) Two bearings are required to take thrust load in

both directions.

d) The angular contact bearing must be mounted without axial

play.
(iv) Taper roller bearing
 Taper roller bearing can carry both radial and axial loads.
Advantages Taper roller bearings
(a)Taper roller bearing can take heavy
radial and thrust loads.
(b) Taper roller bearing has more rigidity.
The disadvantages of taper roller bearing are as follows:
(c)It is necessary to use two taper roller bearings on
the shaft to balance the axial force.
(d)Taper roller bearing cannot tolerate
misalignment between the axes of the shaft and the housing
bore.
(e) Taper roller bearings are costly.
Bearing load life at rated reliability
 When the ball or roller of rolling-contact bearings rolls, contact
stresses occur on the inner ring, the rolling element, and on the
outer ring. Because the curvature of the contacting elements in the
axial direction is different from that in the radial direction.
 If a bearing is clean and properly lubricated, is mounted and sealed
against the entrance of dust and dirt, is maintained in this
condition, and is operated at reasonable temperatures, then metal
fatigue will be the only cause of failure.
 The life measure of an individual bearing is defined as the total
number of revolutions (or hours at a constant speed) of bearing
operation until the failure criterion is developed.
Common life measures are:
 Number of revolutions of the inner ring (outer ring stationary)
until the first tangible evidence of fatigue.
 Number of hours of use at a standard angular speed until the first
tangible evidence of fatigue.

When nominally identical groups are tested to the life-failure

criterion at different loads, the data are plotted on a graph as
depicted in Fig. (next slide) using a log-log transformation.
 From the graph we can write that

The result of many tests for various

kinds of bearings result in
 a = 3 for ball bearings
 a = 10/3 for roller bearings
(cylindrical and tapered roller)
A bearing manufacturer may choose a rated cycle value of 10
revolutions or otherwise, as declared in the manufacturer’s catalog to
correspond to a basic load rating in the catalog for each bearing
manufactured, as their rating life. We shall call this the catalog load
rating and display it algebraically as C10 .
From the above equation

associate load F1 with C10, Life measure L1 with L10, and write
Where the units of L are revolutions
Further we can write
Example:
Consider SKF, which rates its bearings for 1 million revolutions, so
that L10 life is 60LRnR = 106 revolutions. If you desire a life of 5000
h at 1725 rev/min with a load of 400 lbf with a reliability of 90
percent, for which catalog rating would you search in an SKF
catalog?
Solution
 Combined Radial and Thrust Loading
 A ball bearing is capable of resisting radial loading and a thrust
loading. Let Fa and Fr to be the axial thrust and radial loads
respectively, and Fe to be the equivalent radial load that does the same
damage as the combined radial and thrust loads together
 Let V be the rotation factor such that V = 1 when the inner ring rotates
and V= 1.2 when outer ring rotates.
 Two dimensionless groups can be formed: Fe/V Fr and Fa/V Fr
 When these two dimensionless groups are plotted as in Fig. Below,
the data fall in a gentle curve that is well approximated by two
straight-line segments. The abscissa e is defined by the intersection of
the two lines. The equations for the two lines shown in Fig. 11–6 are
 It is common to express the
above equations as a single
equation,
Fe = XiV Fr + Yi Fa

where i = 1 when Fa/V Fr ≤ e and i = 2 when Fa/V Fr > e. Table

below lists values of X1, Y1, X2, and Y2 as a function of e, which
in turn is a function of Fa/C0, where C0 is the bearing static load
catalog rating.
Example:
An SKF 6210 angular-contact ball bearing has an axial load Fa of 400
lbf and a radial load Fr of 500 lbf applied with the outer ring stationary.
The basic static load rating C0 is 4450 lbf and the basic load rating C10

is 7900 lbf. Estimate the L10 life at a speed of 720 rev/min.

Solution:
V = 1 and Fa/C0 = 400/4450 = 0.09. Interpolate for e in the above table
Fa/(V Fr) = 400/[(1)500] = 0.8 > 0.285. Thus, interpolate for Y2

From the above equation

Fe = X2V Fr + Y2Fa = 0.56(1)500 + 1.527(400) = 890.8 lbf

With L D = L10 and FD = Fe , solving the equation gives

Thank you!

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