Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings

This paper takes a four-point contact ball bearing of a wind turbine as the research object, analyzes the force and deformation relationship under the combined action of axial load and radial load, obtains the load distribution of rolling elements, and establishes a time-varying stiffness model of f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Runlin Chen, Jiakai Li, Yimo Wang, Rushen Deng, Weihao Chen, Wenhui Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Lubricants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/13/3/118
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849342478270857216
author Runlin Chen
Jiakai Li
Yimo Wang
Rushen Deng
Weihao Chen
Wenhui Li
author_facet Runlin Chen
Jiakai Li
Yimo Wang
Rushen Deng
Weihao Chen
Wenhui Li
author_sort Runlin Chen
collection DOAJ
description This paper takes a four-point contact ball bearing of a wind turbine as the research object, analyzes the force and deformation relationship under the combined action of axial load and radial load, obtains the load distribution of rolling elements, and establishes a time-varying stiffness model of four-point contact ball bearings without clearance. The stiffness variation law of the case bearing in one rolling period is analyzed, and the time-varying characteristics of stiffness are characterized by the average stiffness and stiffness amplitude variation rate. The influence laws of the number of rolling elements, initial contact angle, axial load, and radial load on the time-varying characteristics of bearing stiffness are analyzed. The results show that within one rolling period, the average value of axial stiffness is about 2.21 times that of radial stiffness, and the amplitude variation rates of radial stiffness and axial stiffness are 0.0047% and 0.002%, respectively. The time-varying characteristics of both are not obvious. The influence of the number of rolling elements on the two stiffnesses is almost linear, while the influence of axial load on stiffness is small; the initial contact angle is positively correlated with axial stiffness and negatively correlated with radial stiffness. With the increase in radial load, the two stiffnesses also increase. Finally, the stiffness test of four-point contact ball bearings was carried out, and the error between the test value and the theoretical value was less than 15%, which preliminarily verified the correctness of the stiffness model.
format Article
id doaj-art-b26f97f554cd478ab0f7ed9ddd2154f1
institution Kabale University
issn 2075-4442
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Lubricants
spelling doaj-art-b26f97f554cd478ab0f7ed9ddd2154f12025-08-20T03:43:22ZengMDPI AGLubricants2075-44422025-03-0113311810.3390/lubricants13030118Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball BearingsRunlin Chen0Jiakai Li1Yimo Wang2Rushen Deng3Weihao Chen4Wenhui Li5School of Mechanical and Precision Instrument Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Precision Instrument Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Precision Instrument Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Precision Instrument Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Precision Instrument Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Precision Instrument Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaThis paper takes a four-point contact ball bearing of a wind turbine as the research object, analyzes the force and deformation relationship under the combined action of axial load and radial load, obtains the load distribution of rolling elements, and establishes a time-varying stiffness model of four-point contact ball bearings without clearance. The stiffness variation law of the case bearing in one rolling period is analyzed, and the time-varying characteristics of stiffness are characterized by the average stiffness and stiffness amplitude variation rate. The influence laws of the number of rolling elements, initial contact angle, axial load, and radial load on the time-varying characteristics of bearing stiffness are analyzed. The results show that within one rolling period, the average value of axial stiffness is about 2.21 times that of radial stiffness, and the amplitude variation rates of radial stiffness and axial stiffness are 0.0047% and 0.002%, respectively. The time-varying characteristics of both are not obvious. The influence of the number of rolling elements on the two stiffnesses is almost linear, while the influence of axial load on stiffness is small; the initial contact angle is positively correlated with axial stiffness and negatively correlated with radial stiffness. With the increase in radial load, the two stiffnesses also increase. Finally, the stiffness test of four-point contact ball bearings was carried out, and the error between the test value and the theoretical value was less than 15%, which preliminarily verified the correctness of the stiffness model.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/13/3/118four-point contact ball bearingtime-varying stiffnessload distributionstiffness test
spellingShingle Runlin Chen
Jiakai Li
Yimo Wang
Rushen Deng
Weihao Chen
Wenhui Li
Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings
Lubricants
four-point contact ball bearing
time-varying stiffness
load distribution
stiffness test
title Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings
title_full Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings
title_fullStr Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings
title_full_unstemmed Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings
title_short Study on the Time-Varying Stiffness Characteristics of Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings
title_sort study on the time varying stiffness characteristics of four point contact ball bearings
topic four-point contact ball bearing
time-varying stiffness
load distribution
stiffness test
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/13/3/118
work_keys_str_mv AT runlinchen studyonthetimevaryingstiffnesscharacteristicsoffourpointcontactballbearings
AT jiakaili studyonthetimevaryingstiffnesscharacteristicsoffourpointcontactballbearings
AT yimowang studyonthetimevaryingstiffnesscharacteristicsoffourpointcontactballbearings
AT rushendeng studyonthetimevaryingstiffnesscharacteristicsoffourpointcontactballbearings
AT weihaochen studyonthetimevaryingstiffnesscharacteristicsoffourpointcontactballbearings
AT wenhuili studyonthetimevaryingstiffnesscharacteristicsoffourpointcontactballbearings