An analytical calculation method of the load distribution and stiffness of an angular contact ball bearing

Performances and working life of angular contact ball bearings (ACBB) are determined by their internal load distribution and stiffness. To obtain accurate calculation results of the load distribution and stiffness of a preloaded ACBB with the combined loads, a new analytic method considering the axial preload and contact angle is developed for solving the internal load distribution and stiffness of the bearing. The changes of the contact angle, internal load distribution and axial stiffness caused by the combined loads are studied. The results from the proposed method are compared with those from the traditional static analytic method and the quasi-static method. The calculation results from the new analytic method considering the preload and contact angel are similar as those from the quasi-static method. However, the calculation time and computational resource of the proposed method are much less than those of the quasi-static method. The results show that the proposed method can overcome the calculation error of the traditional static analytic method. The computational accuracy and efficiency for calculating the load distribution and stiffness of the preloaded ACBBs may be greatly improved by the proposed method.