The influence of the raceway thickness on the dynamic performances of a roller bearing

Dynamic performances of roller bearings are greatly affected by their geometries. A clear understanding of the influences of the bearing geometries on the dynamic performances is very helpful for vibration control of the machinery system. A dynamic finite element model of a roller bearing is presented. The influence of the raceway thickness of the outer race on the component stress, contact forces, and vibrations of the roller bearing is studied, which has not yet been investigated in previous work. All components of the roller bearing are modeled as elastic bodies. The waveforms of the contact force and the acceleration of the bearings considering different thickness percentages are compared, as well as the acceleration statistics and component stresses. The simulation results show that the raceway thickness of the outer race has a great influence on the stress, the contact force, and the vibrations of the bearing. It seems that an outer race with a suitable raceway thickness can be useful for decreasing the contact force and vibrations of the roller bearings. The presented results can give some guidance for the roller bearing design and geometry optimization.