Effects of operation temperature on thermal expansion and main parameters of radial ball bearings

The research of influence of operation temperature on the thermal expansion and main parameters of radial ball bearings is presented in this paper. The main bearing parameters are identified in accordance with the increasing requests concerning stability and load capacity. A series of finite element analyses is performed for quasi-static analysis of all identified bearing parameters during contact period in referent temperature. Then, the dependence of bearing material characteristics on the operation temperature is discussed. Few series of finite element analyses are performed for a particular radial ball bearing type, with characteristics in accordance with manufacturer specifications, for several operation temperatures. These two problems analyses include consideration of relation between the initial radial clearance, thermal expansion strains, and contact deformations of the parts of the bearing assembly. The results for radial ball bearing parameters are monitored during a ball contact period for different temperatures and the appropriate discussion and conclusions are given. The conclusions about the contribution of developed procedure in defining the optimum operation temperature range are shown