Dynamic simulation for a tapered roller bearing considering a localized surface fault on the rib of the inner race

Vibration characteristics of a tapered roller bearing system will be significantly affected by a localized surface fault in the rib of the inner race. The operating condition for the tapered roller bearing system is always monitored to prevent serious failures from happening based on changes in the vibration characteristics. However, most of the previous works are focused on dynamic simulations for a localized surface fault in the race surface. A new dynamic simulation method for a tapered roller bearing with a localized surface fault on the rib of the inner race is proposed. The non-Hertzian contact of taper roller to races and rib is considered. The time-varying deflection excitation caused by the fault is formulated in the proposed method, as well as both the axial and radial contact deformation between the races and rollers. Effects of the axial load, radial load, and fault sizes on the vibration characteristics for the tapered roller bearing are analyzed. An experimental investigation is also developed to validate the proposed method. The results show that the proposed dynamic simulation method can formulate the vibration characteristics for the tapered roller bearing caused by the localized surface fault on the rib of the inner race, which may give some guidance for the tapered roller bearing condition monitoring and fault diagnosis, especially for the incipient localized surface fault.