Ball bearing vibrations model: Development and experimental validation

Abstract

The  experimental  validation  of  a  mathematical  ball  bearing  model  with  localized  outer  race  defects  is  presented  in  this  paper.  The  bearing  is  considered  as  a  mass  –  spring  –  damper  system,  considering  each  rolling  element  as a contact spring – damper pair, based on Hertz equations for contact deformation, moving along the races. In accordance with the obtained results, in this work a bearing model is validated with a purpose built test bench. To compare  the  vibration  signals  from  the  real  system  and  the  model,  spectral  and  high  frequency  analysis  is  used,  particularly techniques commonly used on commercially available vibration analysis equipment, such as envelope and Peak Value analysis. The studied model shows a frequency behavior similar to that of the experimental data and the envelope and Peak Value analysis clearly reveal the characteristic frequencies of the studied type of defects.