A novel test rig for the investigation of roller-cage impacts of a needle roller bearing

Collisions between a roller and its cage result in crack initiation and propagation, leading to the fracture of the cage bridge. The impact forces applied to a needle roller-bearing cage bridge can change the cage’s strain distribution, which is related to the relative speed of the roller and cage. In this work, a needle roller-bearing roller-cage impact test rig was built to quantify cage strain and investigate the effects of speed on roller-cage impact forces. On the cage bridge, three crack sizes were machined and put on the needle roller-bearing roller-cage impact test rig. The strain was measured by a strain gauge positioned on the cage. An encoder measured the shaft speed. The effects of impact speed and crack size on roller-cage impact force and cage deformation were investigated.