CHAPTER 7

BEARINGS

7.0 TABLE OF CONTENTS

7.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1

7.2 BEARING TYPES .............................................................................................. 2
7.2.1 Rotary Motion Bearings............................................................................... 2
7.2.1.1 Ball Bearings......................................................................................... 2
7.2.1.2 Roller Bearings ..................................................................................... 3
7.2.2 Linear Motion Bearings ............................................................................... 3
7.3 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................ 4
7.3.1 Internal Clearance ....................................................................................... 4
7.3.2 Bearing Race Creep.................................................................................... 4
7.3.3 Bearing Material .......................................................................................... 5
7.3.4 Inspection Requirements............................................................................. 5
7.3.5 Bearing Installation and Removal................................................................ 5
7.4 BEARING FAILURE MODES ........................................................................... 6
7.5 BEARING FAILURE RATE PREDICTION ........................................................ 7
7.5.1 Lubricant Multiplying Factor ...................................................................... 10
7.5.2 Lubricant Contamination Multiplying Factor .............................................. 11
7.5.3 Service Factor ........................................................................................... 11
7.6 REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 16

7.1 INTRODUCTION

Bearings are among the few components that are designed for a finite life because
of the fatigue properties of the materials used. Most bearings can be assigned a L10 life,
which is the number of hours at a given load that 90 percent of a set of apparently
identical bearings will complete or exceed before failure. There are a number of other
factors that can be applied to the L10 life so that it more accurately correlates with the
intended operating environment. These factors include actual lubrication film thickness,
misalignment, velocity, load stresses and subjection to contaminants.

There are many different types of bearings in use making it extremely difficult to
establish base failure rates for bearings based on field performance data. Bearing
analysis is also extremely difficult due to the large number of engineering parameters
related to bearing design. The most common failure mode of a bearing is wear. The
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fundamental problem is that the bearing surfaces are neither perfectly flat nor smooth;
and when two surfaces such as a ball and raceway come into contact, only a small
percentage of the apparent surface area is actually supporting the load. The result is
high contact stresses, which can lead to excessive friction and wear. The procedures
for estimating bearing reliability presented in this chapter utilize the manufacturer's
published L10 life with multiplying factors to relate the L10 value to intended operating
conditions.

7.2 BEARING TYPES

7.2.1 Rotary Motion Bearings

The rotary motion bearing is used in those applications in which the main load is
transferred through elements in rolling contact. These bearings are manufactured to
take pure thrust loads, pure radial loads, or a combination of the two loads. Rolling
contact is provided by a rolling element, ball or roller to carry a load with minimal wear
and friction. Because of the greatly reduced starting friction when compared to the
conventional journal bearing, rotary motion bearings have acquired the common
designation of "anti-friction" bearings. The most common rotary motion bearing
application is that of a ball bearing used to support a shaft with radial and thrust loads in
rotating equipment. Load, speed, and the operating viscosity of the lubricant affect the
frictional characteristics of a rotary motion bearing.

Rolling element bearings have a life which is limited by the fatigue life of the
material from which they are made and as modified by the lubricant used. In rolling
contact fatigue, precise relationships between life, load, and design characteristics are
difficult to predict and, therefore, the statistical L10 life based on a probability of survival
is used with multiplying factors to adjust the L10 life to the actual conditions being
projected.

7.2.1.1 Ball Bearings

Ball bearings are generally used where there is likely to be excessive misalignment
or shaft deflection. Most ball bearing designs originate from three basic types:

(1) Single-row radial - the most widely used ball bearing, a symmetrical unit
capable of absorbing combined radial and thrust loads. It is not intended for pure thrust
loads. Because this type of ball bearing is not self-aligning, accurate alignment
between the shaft and housing bore is required.

(2) Single-row angular contact - designed for combined radial and thrust loads
where the thrust component may be large and axial deflection must be confined. A high
shoulder on one side of the outer ring is provided to take the thrust, and the shoulder on
the other side is sufficiently high to make the bearing non-separable.

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 (3) Double-row angular contact - two single-row angular contact bearings built as a
unit with the internal fit between balls and raceway fixed during assembly. These ball
bearings have a known amount of internal preload built in for maximum resistance to
deflection. They are very effective for radial loads where bearing deflection must be
minimized.

7.2.1.2 Roller Bearings

Cylindrical roller bearings are used to support pure radial loads. They are often
used at one end of a highly loaded gear shaft with either tapered roller bearings or
multiple-row matched ball bearings at the other end. Roller bearing life is drastically
reduced by excessive misalignment or deflection; hence, when using roller bearings, the
stack-up of tolerances contributing to misalignment and the shaft or housing deflections
should be carefully considered. To compensate for some degree of misalignment or
deflection and to carry heavy radial loads, roller bearings are crowned to prevent the
phenomenon known as end loading. End loading invariably leads to a drastic reduction
in bearing life. The crowning process distributes the load away from the roller ends and
prevents excessive stress that could cause fatigue at the roller bearing ends.

Tapered roller bearings are being used increasingly in modern drive systems, since
they can react to both thrust and radial loads and can offer the greatest load-carrying
capacity in the smallest possible envelope. Although early tapered roller bearings were
speed limited, these restrictions have been removed by utilizing bearings with special
lubrication features. However, on very high-speed shafts, the use of tapered roller
bearings may be precluded due to their inability to operate for required time intervals
under survivability (oil-off) conditions. Tapered roller bearings, unlike single-row ball
and cylindrical roller bearings require spacers or shims to give these bearings the
proper amount of preload or end play for proper operation. Usually it is desirable to
have a light preload although a small amount of end play is often acceptable. As with
internal clearance, extremes in end play or preload should be avoided.

Needle bearings are characterized by their relatively small size rollers, usually not
ranging above 1/4 inch in diameter, and a relatively high ratio of length to diameter,
usually ranging about 8 to 1. Another common characteristic of needle bearings is the
absence of a cage or separator for retaining the individual rollers.

7.2.2 Linear Motion Bearings

Linear motion bearings provide sliding contact between mating surfaces. The more
common types of sliding contact bearings include:

(1) Radial bearings designed to support rotating shafts or journals

(2) Thrust bearings designed to support axial loads on rotating
members
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 (3) Guide bearings designed to guide moving parts in a straight
line

The relative motion between the parts of linear motion bearings may take place as a
sliding contact without the benefit of a lubricating medium such as with the dry operation
of Teflon. Sliding action may also occur with hydrodynamic lubrication in which a film
build-up of lubrication medium is produced, with either whole or partial separation of the
bearing surfaces. Hydrostatic lubrication may also be used in which a lubricating
medium is introduced under pressure between the mating surfaces causing a force
opposite to the applied load.

Although linear motion bearings are relatively inexpensive, they can cause costly
equipment shutdowns if not properly integrated into the design. Short bearing life can
be caused by misalignment, a bent shaft, a rotating part rubbing on a stationary part, a
rotor out of balance causing vibration, excessive thrust caused by mechanical failure of
other parts, excessive temperature caused by lack of lubrication, dirt or other
contaminant and corrosion from water in the bearing housing.

The reliability analysis procedures in this chapter focus mainly on rotary motion
bearings. Linear motion and sliding bearings are covered in greater detail in Chapter
18.

7.3 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

7.3.1 Internal Clearance

Internal clearance, the clearance between the inner race and the shaft, is an
important consideration in the design of ball and roller bearings, since improper internal
clearance can drastically shorten the life of a bearing. A small internal clearance may
limit the amount of misalignment that can be tolerated and can lead to heavily preloaded
bearings. Excessive internal clearance will cause the load to be carried by too few
rolling elements. The best practice is to ensure that under all conditions there will be a
small positive internal clearance. Usually, the most significant factors to consider when
determining mounted internal clearance of the bearing are the reduction of internal
clearance due to shaft or housing fits and the effect of temperature on the housing/outer
race interface diameters.

7.3.2 Bearing Race Creep

The creeping or spinning of bearing inner races on gear shafts is a fairly common,
although not usually serious, problem in most drive systems. Lundberg and Palmgren
developed fairly simple parametric calculations for the minimum fit to prevent creep with
solid shafts, but there has been little if anything published on minimum press fits for
hollow shafts, as are used in helicopter drive systems. Since an accurate mathematical
solution to such a problem would be extremely difficult, the best approach seems to be

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a reliance on past experience. Sometimes it may not be possible to achieve the
necessary press fit to prevent creep without introducing excessively high hoop stress in
the bearing race. A common practice in this case is to use separate anti-rotation
devices with a slotted bearing race. Although this practice is fairly effective with
stationary races, it is seldom effective with rotating races.

7.3.3 Bearing Material

Because the wear rate of a material is proportional to the load applied to it, and
inversely proportional to its hardness, one obvious way of reducing wear on bearing
components is to increase the hardness at their surface. This is commonly
accomplished by using hard coatings, such as electro-less nickel, hard anodised
aluminum and thin dense chrome. In addition, other hard coatings, such as titanium
carbide, carburising, and both carbo- and plasma nitriding are also widely used.
Another advance in bearing technology has been the development of extremely clean
bearing steels resulting from vacuum-melt processing. Vacuum-melt bearings have
significantly increased the potential life of a bearing by one and one-half to two times
the life of vacuum-degassed bearings. Bearings of such advanced materials as M-50
steel can offer even further improvement. Cost of the bearing is an important
consideration and the application of the bearing considering such factors as loading and
velocity must determine the bearing selection.

7.3.4 Inspection Requirements

Design analysis must include the consideration of proper inspection procedures for
the assembly of bearings which can enhance their reliability. Besides the obvious
dimensional inspection requirements, two additional inspections by the manufacturer
should be specified for all high performance drive system bearings:

• Magnetic particle
• Nital etch

Magnetic particle inspection can detect the presence of relatively large surface or
near-surface anomalies, such as inclusions, which are often the cause of bearing
spalls. Nital etch inspection can detect the presence of grinding burns, which locally
change the hardness of the material and cause premature bearing failure.

7.3.5 Bearing Installation and Removal

The installation of bearings should be carefully considered during design not only to
prevent assembly errors, but also to permit easy removal of the bearing without
damaging it. Lead chamfers are often installed at bearing journals to facilitate
installation. When specifying the breakout on the bearing corners, the shaft drawing
should be checked to ensure that the maximum radius at the shaft shoulder will be
cleared by the bearing. The height of the shaft shoulder should, if possible, be
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consistent with that recommended by bearing manufacturers. Where necessary, flats
should be machined on the shaft shoulder so that a bearing puller can remove the
bearing by contacting the inner race. Many bearings have been damaged in the past
where the bearing puller could grab only the cage or rollers of the bearing. Where
duplex bearings are used, the bearings should be marked so that the installer can
readily determine the proper way for the bearings to be installed. Incorrectly installed
duplex bearings will not properly react to the design loads. All bearings that can be
separated should have the serial number clearly shown on all of the separable com-
ponents. This will prevent the inadvertent mixing of components. Every assembly
drawing that contains bearings should clearly explain in the drawing notes how the
bearing should be installed. It is imperative that the mechanics building up this
assembly have this information available.

7.4 BEARING FAILURE MODES

The common bearing failure modes, mechanisms and causes are listed in Table 7-
1. One common mechanism of bearing failure is spalling, which is defined as
subsurface chipping or breaking. The failure is usually caused by loading of the bearing
exceeding the design load. Surface fatigue or peeling is a cracking and peeling of the
surface metal. It is usually the result of poor lubrication or surface damage which
interrupts the lubricant film. Scores and scratches are usually caused by hard particles
being trapped in a bearing. This failure mechanism may also be caused by inadequate
sealing, contaminants in the lubricant, or installation damage.

Smearing is surface damage resulting from unlubricated sliding contact within a

bearing. Brinelling is the actual indentation of a rolling element under excessive load or
impact that causes stresses beyond the yield point of the bearing material. Fretting
wear is usually caused by an improper fit between the bearing and the shaft or outer
surface of the bearing. This allows movement of the race in relation to the housing or
shaft. The surfaces then wear or score, thereby damaging the surfaces and preventing
a firm, fixed contact.

Roller and tapered bearings have an additional failure mode defined as scuffing of
the bearing surfaces. This failure mode is usually caused by bearing exposure to an
excessive load for an extensive period of time. The surfaces of the moving parts are
scored or scratched, increasing the roughness of the surfaces, setting up stress
concentrations and increasing friction. The scoring also interferes with the normal
lubricant film and increases the metal-to-metal contact during use.

Fatigue can occur due to cyclic loads normal to the bearing surface. Wiping occurs
from surface to surface contact due to loss of sufficient lubrication film thickness. This
malfunction can occur from under-rotation or from system fluid losses. Overheating is
indicated by babbitt cracking or surface discoloration. Corrosion is frequently caused by
the chemical reaction between the acids in the lubricants and the base metals in the
babbitt. Lead based babbitts tend to show a higher rate of corrosion failures.
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 Table 7-1. Typical Modes of Bearing Failure

FAILURE MODE FAILURE MECHANISM FAILURE CAUSE

Fatigue damage - Spalling of ball/roller - Heavy, prolonged load

raceway - Excessive speed
- Brinelling - Shock load
- Smearing - Excessive vibration

Noisy bearing - Surface fatigue - Loss of lubricant

- Glazing - Housing bore out of round
- Microspalling of stressed - Corrosive agents
surfaces - Distorted bearing seals

Bearing seizure - Crack formation on rings - Inadequate heat removal

and balls or rollers capability
- Skidding - Loss of lubricant
- High temperature
- Excessive speed

Bearing vibration - Scuffing - Misalignment

- Fretting - Housing bore out of round
- Pitting of surfaces - Unbalanced/excessive load
- Inadequate housing support

Severe performance requirements may affect the reliability of the bearings if there is
a path of heat conduction from the machine or any friction creating components within it
to the bearings (for example, brakes or clutches). This condition may cause a decrease
in the bearing lubricant's operating viscosity and, consequently, a reduction in bearing
life. A lubricant with a higher temperature rating should prevent leakage or excessive
wear.

7.5 BEARING FAILURE RATE PREDICTION

Rolling element bearing life is usually calculated using the Lundberg-Palmgren

method (Reference 53). This method is a statistical technique based on the sub-
surface initiation of fatigue cracks through hardened air-melt bearing material. Most
mechanical systems are not utilized precisely as the bearing manufacturer envisioned;
therefore, some adjustment factors must be used to approximate the failure rate of the
bearings under specific conditions.

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 Experience has shown that the service life of a bearing is usually limited by either
excessive wear or fatigue. Excessive wear occurs when the bearings are improperly
installed or exposed to hostile operating environments. Inadequate lubrication,
misalignment, contamination, shock, vibration, or extreme temperature all cause
bearings to wear out prior to their estimated design life. In contrast, a bearing can be
expected to perform adequately for the duration of its rated life, given proper operating
conditions, until failure occurs due to fatigue.

Rolling element bearings ultimately fail due to fatigue because the load carrying
balls, raceways, rollers, etc. are subjected to cyclical contact stresses. Under laboratory
conditions the fatigue characteristics of bearings can be quantified in terms of stress
magnitude and number of stress cycles, which in turn relates to the bearing load and
number of revolutions. A heavily loaded bearing, for example, has a much shorter
fatigue life than a lightly loaded one when both are operated at the same low speed.
Conversely, a bearing operated under a light load and low speed provides a service life
several times greater than the rated life. In this latter case service will generally be
terminated by wear.

Attempting to estimate the fatigue life of an individual bearing is not very practical
because of the large number of design parameters to consider in relation to the
sensitivity of the operating environment. Instead, statistical methods are used to rate
bearings based on the results of large groups of the same type of bearing tested to
failure under controlled laboratory conditions to establish a fatigue life rating. This
rating, known as the L10 life, is defined as the number of hours that 90% of the bearings
operating at their rated load and speed, can be expected to complete or exceed before
exhibiting the first evidence of fatigue. It is important to consider the bearing application
before using the published L10 life as a reliability estimate. For example, a bearing in a
direct drive motor application may have a predicted life of 400,000 hours but the same
bearing in a belt drive or pillow block application may have a life of 40,000 hours
depending on loading.

Standard equations have been developed to extend the L10 rating to determine the
statistical rated life for any given set of conditions. These equations are based on an
exponential relationship of load to life.

y
⎛L ⎞
L10 = ⎜ S ⎟ (7-1)
⎝ LA ⎠

where: L10 = Bearing life with reliability of 90%, millions of revolutions

LS = Basic dynamic load rating, lbf
LA = Equivalent radial load, lbf

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 y = Constant, 3.0 for ball bearings, 3.3 for roller bearings

The basic dynamic load rating is the dynamic load capacity of the bearing that is
established during L10 life testing and can be found in manufacturer’s catalogs. The
equivalent radial load is the load the bearing will see in service and can be found in
engineering drawings or calculated. Normally LA will be approximately 0.5 LS depending
on the anticipated environmental and maintenance considerations of the design and can
be used as a value for preliminary reliability estimates.

The L10 life can be converted to hours with the following:

L10 h =106 / (60n) i L10 (7-2)

where: L10 h = Bearing life (at 90% reliability), operating hours

n = Rotational speed, revolutions/ min

In a ball or roller bearing, the rolling elements transmit the external load from one
ring to the other. The external force load is generally composed of a radial load FR and
an axial load FA and is distributed over a number of rolling elements. These two
components combine to form the equivalent radial load. The equivalent radial load, LA,
is defined as the radial load producing the same theoretical fatigue life as the combined
radial and thrust loads. All bearing loads are converted to an equivalent radial load. If
only pure radial loads are involved, then the value for LA is simply the radial load.

Except for the special case of pure thrust bearings, bearing ratings shown in
manufacturers' catalogs are for radial loads. When thrust is present, an equivalent
radial load must be determined before estimating reliability. Most bearing manufacturers
provide methods of combining thrust and radial loads in accordance with ANSI
standards to obtain an equivalent radial load. This relationship can be written as
follows:

LA = XFR + YFA (7-3)

Where: LA = Equivalent radial load, lbf

FR = Radial load, lbf
FA = Axial load, lbf
X = Radial factor relating to contact angle
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 Y = Thrust factor relating to contact angle, thrust load and
the number and size of balls or rollers in the bearing

A bearing catalog will display separate tables of values to cover single-row, double-
row, and angular-contact variations. X and Y can be obtained from the manufacturer of
the bearing. References 44 and 83 provide design equations to calculate radial and
thrust loads, and guidelines for estimating the radial and thrust factors. FA should not
exceed 30% of the radial load

Substantial improvements in materials processing and manufacturing techniques

have been made since the original development of the L10 concept for predicting
bearing life. For instance, high-purity steels that are vacuum degassed or vacuum
melted are now widely used for bearings. Also, bearing components are manufactured
to tighter tolerances on geometry, and ball/raceways have finer finishes, which help to
improve lubricating films. For reasons such as these, bearing manufacturers have
modified their L10 ratings with certain adjustment factors.

To adjust the actual failure rate of the bearing from the calculated L10 life, it can be
assumed that the failure rate will correspond to 63.21% of the failure probability. Thus a
reliability factor of 5.0 can be established to convert the L10 value to L50. The following
equation can then be established for the failure rate of a bearing:

λBE = λBE , B i Cν i CCW i Ct i CSF (7-4)

Where: λBE = Failure rate of bearing, failures/million revolutions

λBE,B = 2 x 105 / L10 failures/million revolutions
Cν = Multiplying factor for lubricant (See Figure 7.1)
CCW = Multiplying factor for water contaminant level (See Section 7.5.2
and Figure 7.2)
Ct = Multiplying Factor for operating temperature (See Figure 7.3)
CSF = Multiplying factor for operating service conditions (See Table 7-2)

7.5.1 Lubricant Multiplying Factor

The lubricant factor, Cν, is a function of the viscosity of the lubricant used in the
bearing system at the intended operating temperature. Cν can be expressed as:

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 ⎛ν ⎞
0.54
Cν = ⎜ O ⎟ (7-5)
⎝ν L ⎠

Where: νO = Viscosity of specification lubricant, lb-min/in2

νL = Viscosity of lubricant used, lb-min/in2

Multiplying factors for the effect of lubrication viscosity on the failure rate of a
bearing are shown in Figure 7.1.

7.5.2 Lubricant Contamination Multiplying Factor

Less than 10 percent of all ball bearings last long enough to fail due to normal
fatigue (Reference 8). Most bearings will fail due to static overload, wear, corrosion,
lubricant failure, contamination, or overheating. Water contamination, for example, can
have a detrimental effect on fatigue life. A water contamination multiplying factor which
accounts for the reduction in fatigue life due to the leakage of water into the oil
lubrication is shown in Figure 7.2. This factor is represented as CCW and is represented
by the following equations derived from data in Reference 19.

CCW = 1.04 + 1.03 CW − 0.065 CW 2 (7-6)

Where: CW = Percentage of water in the lubricant

The CCW multiplying factor will modify the base failure rate as shown in Equation (7-
4). For bearings designed for water based lubricants CW = 0 and CCW = 1.04

7.5.3 Service Factor

The actual radial or axial load on the bearing may be greater than the calculated
load because of vibration and shock present during operation of the equipment. A
service factor can be used to adjust the failure rate for various operating conditions as
shown in Table 7-2.

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 Table 7-2. Bearing Service Factors
(Reference 112)

Operating Conditions Typical Applications Service Factor, CSF

Smooth operation free Electric motors, machine
1.0 to 1.2
from shock tools, air conditioners
Normal operation Air blowers, compressors,
1.2 to 1.5
elevators, motor vehicles
Operation with shock Construction, off-road,
1.5 to 3.0
and vibration shipboard equipment

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 1.6

1.4
Lubricant Multiplying Factor, Cν

1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
ν O /ν L

0.54
⎛ν ⎞
Cν = ⎜ O ⎟
⎝ν L ⎠

Where: νΟ = Viscosity of specification fluid

νL = Viscosity of lubricant used

Figure 7.1 Multiplying Factor for Bearing Lubricant

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 5.0

4.5
Water Contamination Multiplying Factor, C CW

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
Water Content of Lubricant, CW, Percent

CCW = 1.04 + 1.03 CW − 0.065 CW 2

Where: CW = Percentage of water in the lubricant

Figure 7.2 Water Contamination Multiplying Factor

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 3.0

2.5
Temperature Multiplying Factor, C t

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5
60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260
Operating Temperature, T O , Degrees C

Ct = 1.0 for TO < 183oC

3
⎛ T ⎞
Ct = ⎜ O ⎟ for TO ≥ 183oC
⎝ 183 ⎠

Where: TO = Operating Temperature of the Bearing

Figure 7.3 Operating Temperature Multiplying Factor

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7.6 REFERENCES

8. Block, H. and D. Johnson, “Downtime Prompts Upgrading of Centrifugal Pumps”,

Chemical Engineering Magazine, pp. 35-38 (25 Nov 1985)

19. Hindhede, U., et al, Machine Design Fundamentals, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 1983

44. Sibley, L.B., “Rolling Bearings”, Wear Control Handbook, M.B. Peterson and W.
O. Winer, Eds., Sect. 5, pp 699-726, American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
New York (1980)

50. Bentley, R.M. and D.J. Duquette, Environmental Considerations in Wear

Processes, “Fundamentals of Friction and Wear of Materials”, pp. 291-329,
American Society of Metals, Metals Park, Ohio (1981)

53. Rumbarger, John H., “A Fatigue Life and reliability Model for Gears”, American
Gear Manufacturers Association Report 229.16 (January 1972)

58. Parmley, R.O., Mechanical Components Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., NY

1985

83. “Ball and Roller Bearings, Theory, Design and Application”, John Wiley & Sons,
ISBN 0 471 26283 8

112. NSK Product Guide – Bearings 2008, NSK Americas, Inc.

116. Dr. Gerhard G. Antony, “How to Determine the MTBF of Gearboxes”, Power
Transmission Engineering, April 2008

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