Vibration Modeling of Lubricated Rolling Element Bearing Considering Skidding in Loaded Zone

Wear and incipient failure of the components of the rolling element bearing can be caused by the skidding when the rolling element enters into the loaded zone. Understanding the vibrations of the rolling element bearings caused by the skidding in the loaded zone is very useful for their maintenance. In this work, a dynamic model is proposed to investigate the skidding of a lubricated rolling element bearing under radial load when the rolling element enters into the loaded zone. The nonlinear contact forces, the lubrication oil film, the friction force between the rolling element and the races, the centrifugal force of the rolling elements, and the gravity is considered in this study, as well as the friction force between the rolling element and the cage. The proposed model is applied to investigate the effects of the lubrication oil film, the radial load, and the inner race speed on vibrations of the bearing. The numerical results from the proposed model are compared with those from the current model in the literature. It is shown that the proposed method provides a more accurate approach describing the real vibrations of the rolling element bearing caused by the skidding in the loaded zone.